Coby Turner scored a team-high 20 points and Cain Doliboa scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half as the Dayton Flyers held on down the stretch for a 91-86 victory over the Xavier Musketeers before a sellout crowd of 13,521at the UD Arena. Turner, who led the team in scoring for the first time all season, nailed four consecutive treys in the second half to spark the UD win. Not to be outdone, Doliboa hit two second-half treys, a huge turnaround jumper, and 8 of 9 at the line to help the Flyer cause.

Dayton improves to 9-10 (4-5) while Xavier loses their second straight game and first conference game of the season. The Muskies now sit at 15-6 (7-1).

Like so many other Dayton-Xavier games at the Arena, the home team got off to a slow start and had to dig themselves out of an early deficit. The Muskies scored the first 9 points of the game and used the early cushion to build a 23-12 lead with under 10 minutes to play in the half. It would end up being Xavier’s largest lead of the game and signaled a turning point in the contest.

Oliver Purnell’s team slowly chipped away at the deficit with two three-pointers and a breakaway dunk by Tony Stanley and an ability to make free throws. At the half, the home team found themselves down only 40-37 despite shooting under .300% from the floor. Dayton’s saving grace in the first half was converting 19-21 at the charity stripe.
The second half got underway in superb fashion as Coby Turner nailed a trey from the left side to tie the game at 40. For the next 10 minutes, both teams took turns in the lead by making clutch shots and converting more free throws. With around 9 minutes left however, the Flyers started making plays and started gaining confidence.

After the duo of Coby Turner and Cain Doliboa traded several three-pointers with Xavier’s Lenny Brown, Dayton started making plays on the defensive end while shooting lights out from behind the arc. Doliboa caught fire and nailed two treys, a turnaround jumper, and five free throws in a span of six minutes to spark the Flyers to a small lead. Stanley and David Morris knocked down another trey each and before long UD was in control. While the Muskies continued to crash the offensive boards for second-shot opportunities and stick-backs, Dayton kept making free throws. In the last five minutes, the Flyers scored on nearly every possession

The final two minutes became a foul-fest as Prosser elected to roll the dice and hope UD missed enough free throws to give his team a chance to make a comeback. Again, it was not to be.

Dayton led 90-78 with just seconds to play but offered little resistance as XU nailed a trey, Lloyd Price converted on a in-bounds alley-oop dunk, and Kevin Frey hit a 29-footer at the buzzer to finish up the scoring.

For the game, Dayton converted a remarkable 35-41 FT attempts (.854%) and shot better than .500% in the second half after shooting under .300% in the first frame. The Flyers had less good fortune on the backboards as XU outrebounded UD 38-29 including 18 offensive boards. The Muskies hit a sizzling 30-36 FTs of their own (.833%) to keep pace until the final minutes.

The story of the game however was Turner and Doliboa. Their big plays rubbed off oneveryone as the Flyers hit 8 of 12 from long distance in the second half to bury Prosser’s club for the fourth consecutive time at the UD Arena.

Tony Stanley chipped in 15 points and 5 boards while Edwin Young converted 11-12 FTs and finished with 13 points. David Morris played his best game of the season, netting 8 points, 4 assists, and one turnover. Had his teammates been able to corral many of his quality passes, Morris’ assist numbers might have been doubled.

Mark Ashman played solid, if not spectacular, scoring 11 points and tossing a season-high 4 assists. Not noted for his passing from the low post, Xavier doubled Ashman with Kevin Frey, Obi Harris, and James Posey for much of the game and forced the junior center to find the open man.

The Flyers finished the game .418% from the field while XU shot .431%. James Posey had a huge game, scoring a career-best 32 points with the help of a prefect 14-14 from the FT line. Posey had 21 in the first half and finished with 9 rebounds. Lenny Brown added 25 points.

For the game, 54 fouls were called, including a phantom technical foul on Tony Stanley after Edwin Young got creamed near the Xavier bench and emotions ran high.

Dayton’s next game is Thursday in Philadelphia against the Temple Owls — considered the best in the A-10 this year. A win may be asking too much, but a strong performance isn’t.