Temple’s fabled zone defense and inside presence were too much for the visiting Flyers, as Dayton drops its second conference game in a row 70-62. The Flyers drop to 7-7 in the conference, 16-11 overall, but remain in 5th place for the moment.The men in red started the first half rather sluggish, but turned things around quickly with long-range bombing and an aggressive zone defense of their own. Dayton tried to push the ball down low, but Kevin Lyde and Co. were too much for the Flyers’ undersized post presence. Another avenue to beat the Temple match-up zone is to shoot over the top of it. Dayton used excellent perimeter ball movement to create open looks. Tony Stanley sank two consecutive 3-pointers, giving the Flyers an 8-point advantage with five minutes to go. Dayton shot 8-14 from beyond the arc in the first half.The Flyers’ zone was impenetrable much of the half. The Owls went scoreless for nearly seven minutes at one point. However, all good things for this Flyer team often come to an end — and quickly.

Temple began to heat things up, eventually regaining the lead again before halftime. Fortunately, it was all tied up a 31 apiece when both teams took things to the locker rooms.The Owls cruised in the second half, as the well went dry from 3-point range for the Flyers. Temple extended their zone and aggressively trapped on the perimeter in the second session. Dayton went on several multi-minute scoring droughts. Temple received solid performances inside and out. Kevin Lyde, the Owls’ big man down low, finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Lynn Greer dropped in 26 points, many of those coming at the line, and 6 assists. The Flyers saw significant contributions from its guards as well. Philadelphia native Tony Stanley, known for lack-luster performances in Philly, pitched in 19 points, draining 5-9 from beyond the arc.Freshmen Ramod Marshall and Keith Waleskowski continue to develop. Keith grabbed 13 rebounds against Temple’s experienced frontcourt, and had 9 points. Unfortunately, Nate Green and Yuanta Holland were ineffective today for the Flyers. Marshall finished with 13 points, and David Morris dished out 7 assists to go along with 13 points.

The Dayton Flyers take on the Fordham University Rams on Wednesday in the Bronx. While an at-large bid has faded, the Flyers are looking to position themselves for a run at the conference tournament crown — and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, however improbable it sounds