Dayton 94 Duquesne 64. On the road. No typo.

It’s hard to imagine a better way to claim Dayton’s first-ever outright Atlantic-10 West Division Title as Dayton broke open a 38-33 halftime advantage to completely buzzsaw the Dukes in what can only be described as the mother of all second halfs. In a game in which every Flyer scored, Dayton shot an incredible 73% from the field in the second half as guys like Matt Cooper and Joe Ashburn got in on the fun with dunks and three-pointers. The Flyers improve to 21-6 (11-4) and finish the two-game road trip with a season-ending contest at pesky Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon.

The game started off with high emotions as Duquesne celebrated Senior Day with a small but vocal contingent of Dukes fans and a starting lineup comprising a mixture of regulars and all the departing seniors. After the first two media timeouts, Dayton began to shake things out and spread the margin to five points on the heels of hot shooting from Tony Stanley. Stanley nailed four treys in the first half en route to a career-high 27 points on the night.

The Flyers got inside baskets from Mark Ashman and Yuanta Holland to help push the first half lead to as many as 13 points, but Duquesne went on a late run to cut the deficit to just five points at 38-33 at intermission.

With the lead cut to just five points at the half, Flyer fans were hoping Oliver Purnell’s squad could hang on in the second half for yet another much-needed road victory. After Dayton made one of two free throws to start the second half and Duquesne nailed a basket, the lead was just four points and the game up for grabs. Then Dayton went on fire.

Tony Stanley added to his 14 first-half points by nailing bombs from long range, while Day Day Morris did likewise to push the lead to double digits. On the interior, Yuanta Holland and Mark Ashman connected on nearly everything they threw up and before long the route was on.

Rebounding, a weakness in the first half, became a strength in the second half as Dayton rallied from a 20-12 deficit in this category to finish the game with an overall edge on the boards. Duquesne, who shot .500%+ from the floor in the first half and owned the boards, went ice-cold from the field in the last frame and lost all confidence in their ability to make plays. The Flyer lead was trimmed to 16 points with 13 minutes to play, but Dayton answered with a flurry of baskets to open a 25pt lead shortly thereafter — and it was all over.

Everything went right for the Flyers in the second half. Near the end of the game, Dayton started having fun with run-outs and lay-ups. Matt Cooper finished his scoring off with a fast-break dunk and walk-on Joe Ashburn nailed two treys in mop-up time to continue the celebration.

Dayton shot a sizzling .623% from the field in the game (.700%+ in the second half), including .571% (12-21) from behind the three-point line. Stanley finished with a career-high 27 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals, while Mark Ashman and David Morris each chipped in 14 points. Edwin Young played a sensational floor game, collecting seven points, nine assists, six rebounds, and just two turnovers on the night.

Duquesne shot .431% from the floor for the game after shooting better than .500% in the first half. The Dukes helped the Flyer cause by clanking 14 of 26 free throws (.462%). They also coughed up 19 turnovers. All-Everything Wayne Smith, averaging 17ppg, finished with just six points on 2-12 shooting. In two games against Dayton, Smith scored a combined 11 points. On the flip side, Duquesne had 12 offensive rebounds to Dayton’s six. Dayton finished with 23 assists however — a number somewhere in the stratosphere.

Dayton travels to Blacksburg, VA, to finish the regular season off at Cassell Coliseum against Virginia Tech on Saturday. While the Flyers are looking good, another road win will go a long way toward a strong seed in the NCAAs. A win will also keep the Flyers trucking as they head into the A-10 Tournament.