DAYTON, Ohio — The No. 24 Dayton Flyers outscored Southern Methodist 15-3 in the final five minutes to win, 74-62, on Friday at UD Arena in the second game of the season.
Dayton led the entire second half until SMU tied the game at 59-59 at the 5:05 mark. R.J. Blakney made a 3-pointer on the next possession to put Dayton on top, and that started the game-ending run.
— What it means: The Flyers, who routed Lindenwood, 73-46, in the season opener Monday, are 2-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They avenged losses to SMU in the second game of the 2020-21 season and in December last season.
— Players of the game: DaRon Holmes II and Mustapha Amzil each scored 20 points.
— Key stat: Toumani Camara had 18 rebounds, and Dayton had a 44-36 rebounding advantage.
— Key play: With Dayton leading 63-62, Amzil made a 3-pointer with 2:12 to play. Amzil made 3 of 6 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws. After a basket by Holmes, Amzil put the game out of reach by making three free throws with 48 seconds left.
— Looking ahead: Dayton plays UNLV at 11 p.m. Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
Halftime recap
The Flyers scored seven points in the last 12 minutes of the first half but still owned a 29-24 halftime lead against Southern Methodist.
Dayton led 22-10 after two free throws by Amzil with 12:00 to play and didn’t score again until Holmes made a short shot with 5:33 to play.
