When the Dayton Flyers shoot 28% in the first half and let the opponents trim the nets at 55% — including four of five from behind the arc — the chances of winning plummet like a ship taking on water. That’s exactly what happened Saturday afternoon as the Rams grounded the Flyers 70-61 before a mixed crowd of Fordham followers and Flyer Faithful at Rose Hill Gymnasium. The Flyers drop to 12-3 while Fordham nabs their first A-10 victory in four tries.

The Flyers got off to a promising start in the first few minutes as Tony Stanley nailed a three-pointer to get Dayton on the scoreboard. Shortly thereafter, Dayton converted several offensive rebounds for stick-backs and before long the Flyers had a 15-10 lead. After Bob Hill burned a timeout to stop the UD momentum however, the highlights belonged to Fordham for the remainder of the half. The Rams put together a 15-1 run that stretched out to a 23-5 advantage on the heels of superb shooting from long range, steals on the defensive end, and pin-point passing on the offensive side that carved through the Dayton defense. The half ended with UD trailing 37-26. Bevin Robin and Jason Harris gave Dayton fits the entire half and kept the Rams smoking while Brooks Hall couldn’t throw it in the ocean, and, subsequently, finished the half without a point.

The Flyers needed a strong second half start, but a Bevin Robin airball from three-point land got collected and stuck back in for a Fordham deuce and many Flyer fans were starting to envision a blowout. Dayton couldn’t buy a basket from anywhere on the court as open treys and close-range bunnies were missed with regularity. Purnell’s offense created plenty of good looks but the shots never fell and Fordham maintained the lead. On several possessions the Dayton offense had three and four shots at the hoop but couldn’t pull the lid off the basket. Then the Flyers made a run.

The Flyers milked the deficit to 41-38 after a Yuanta Holland stick-back, David Morris jumper from the foul line, and Holland free throw, but the Flyers would get no closer. Lazy passes and an inability to pull down the defensive boards haunted the Flyers the entire contest. Before long it was 50-40 and the Flyers were back where they started when the second half got underway. Brooks Hall continued his ice-cold shooting from behind the arc while Mark Ashman missed three of four foul shots that hurt Dayton’s chances. Purnell’s club had a chance to make another run with the lead trimmed to 53-47, but Yuanta Holland missed two free throws and Teremun Johnson answered at the other end with a three-point play to increase the margin to 56-47. This five-point swing was the nail in the coffin and sealed the game with five minutes left in the contest. A four-point possession two trips later added insult to injury with the score at 60-49. Edwin Young airballed two free throws on the next possession.

Other than Yuanta Holland and Mark Ashman, the Flyers played as poor as they have all season. Open jumpers were badly missed, free throws were flushed down the toilet, and that sticky defense fans grew accustomed to over the last five games never entered the building. Holland fought hard all afternoon and finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds to keep the Flyers from getting waxed from the opening tip. Ashman finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

While the Flyer performance was subpar, Fordham’s second-half effort was nothing to brag about either. The Rams looked especially good because Dayton committed so many mental mistakes at the wrong time in the wrong place. Brooks Hall finished the game with two points and missed 11 of 12 shots. Stanley finished the game nailing just four of 17 shots.

The Flyers shot 32% from the field, under 55% from the foul line, and 4-20 from three-point range — not a recipe for winning against weekend warriors at the local YMCA.

The Flyers get a second chance when they travel to UMass next week. Dayton absolutely and undeniably must win at UMass and keep from dropping two straight games on the road and falling to 2-2 in the conference. Should the Flyers falter, their overall record of 12-4 would be identical to their record after 16 games in the 1997-98 season — a season in which Dayton didn’t make the NCAA tournament. The Flyers cannot afford to throw away strong opportunities at road victories and needs to refocus, rededicate, and redirect their efforts.