Dayton falls to Rhode Island, drops second straight at home

By: Steve Miller – Staff Writer

The Dayton men’s basketball team’s recent struggles continued at UD Arena Saturday afternoon as the Flyers dropped their second home game in a row, 75-66 to Rhode Island.

The Flyers had knocked off the Rams in Kingsport, Rhode Island, just two weeks prior, but suffered at the hands of URI’s sharp-shooting offense.

Guards Jarvis Garrett and Four McGlynn combined to hit seven of 12 3-point attempts for the Rams. As a team, URI hit nine-of-17, a 53 percent mark.

Throughout the game, UD gathered more rebounds (30-29), converted more free throws (14-10) and had fewer turnovers (9-12), but couldn’t get their shots to fall at the rate Rhode Island could. The Flyers shot 42 percent from the floor and 38 percent from behind the arc.

“I thought they absolutely punched from the beginning,” head coach Archie Miller said after the game about Rhode Island, who started the game on an 11-0 run. “We’re not punching back a whole ton.”

Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton with 17 points and 11 rebounds, a double-double for the senior forward from Ontario. Redshirt junior guard Charles Cooke wasn’t far behind with 16 points.

Redshirt freshman center Steve McElvene was held in check the entire game after picking up two fouls early on. McElvene finished with just two points, one rebound and three fouls.

After trailing by 13 at halftime, UD struggled to close the gap in the second half and fell behind by as many as 19. With five minutes remaining, the Flyers started closing the gap, shrinking it to seven at one point—but it turned out to be too little too late.

The Rams were able to match the Flyers shot-for-shot down the stretch with big buckets from McGlynn and forward Andre Berry, who finished with 15 points on seven-for-seven shooting from the floor.

Guard Jared Terrell led the Rams with 18 points. Terrell hit a statement three-pointer to close out the first half, putting an exclamation point on the Rams’ initial impression at UD Arena.

Five Rams scored double-digit points Saturday.

“We’re having a tough time bringing what we need to bring at this time of year,” Miller said. “It’s hard on everybody—nobody gives you anything. For whatever reason, we’re not setting the tone. Our last two home games in particular we have been a shell of ourselves at times.”

The loss is Dayton’s second straight at home, and third in the last four games overall. The Flyers are now 12-4 in conference play and 22-6 overall.

Photo by Multimedia Editor Chris Santucci.