December 13, 2008 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Chris Johnson had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Dayton to a 73-56 win over Coppin State on Saturday night.

Marcus Johnson added 15 and Chris Wright 13 for the Flyers (9-1), who shot about 43 percent from the field.

Coppin State (1-6) led by eight points with about seven minutes to go in the first half, but Dayton then took control of the game and went into halftime with a 35-29 lead.

Tywain McKee had 26 points for Coppin State, which shot only about 29 percent from the field and about 16 percent (3-of-19) from behind the 3-point line.

Chuka Iloegbu added 12 points for Coppin State.

December 10, 2008 | AP Press

OMAHA, Neb. — Booker Woodfox scored 21 points to lead hot-shooting Creighton past previously unbeaten Dayton 77-59 on Wednesday.

The senior guard hit five of his team’s 13 3-pointers as the Bluejays (6-2) snapped the Flyers’ eight-game winning streak while becoming the first team to shoot better than 40 percent from the floor against Dayton this season.

Creighton was 23 of 52 from the field (44 percent) and shot 52 percent from 3-point range (13 of 25).

Cavel Witter, P’Allen Stinnett and Kaleb Korver joined Woodfox in double figures for the Jays, who improved to 4-0 at home on the season.

Dayton (8-1) was led by Rob Lowery with 15 points.

Creighton also outrebounded the Flyers 42-31.

December 6, 2008 | AP Press

AKRON, OH — Charles Little’s dunk with 1:56 left gave Dayton the lead and Chris Johnson hit two foul shots with 3 seconds left to preserve it in the Flyers’ 54-50 victory over Akron on Saturday night.

Brett McKnight’s 3-pointer with 3:45 remaining gave Akron (5-3) a 50-47 lead. A foul shot by London Warren and two by Kurt Huelsman tied it before an Akron miss led to Little’s dunk that put the Fliers (8-0) ahead to stay.

The Zips missed their last three shots from the field and had two turnovers. Johnson accounted for half his points when he made two free throws to put the game out of reach in the 7-0 run at the end.

Chris Wright had 18 points for Dayton, which shot just 34 percent from the field and was only 1 of 16 on 3-pointers.

Anthony Hitchens scored 17 points and Jimmy Conyers had 10 for Dayton, which shot 25 percent from the field.

December 2, 2008 | AP Press

DAYTON, OHIO — Charles Little had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead unbeaten Dayton to an 87-70 victory over Troy on Tuesday night.

Troy led the first 9 minutes until a jumper by Little made it 18-17. He followed with a dunk to put Dayton up by three, and the Flyers led the rest of the way.

Marcus Johnson added 14, London Warren 11 and Mickey Perry 10 for Dayton (7-0).

Travis Lee had 10 points for Troy (3-5).

After trailing 40-31 at halftime, Troy pulled within 41-40 on a 3-pointer by Regis Huddleston just over 3 minutes into the second half. But Dayton regained control with a 21-7 spurt capped by Little’s tip-in with 10:45 to play.

Dayton is off to its best start since the Flyers went 9-0 in 2003-2004.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Rob Lowery scored a career-high 21 points Saturday night and Dayton used its depth and quickness to beat No. 15 Marquette 89-75 in the final of the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

The Flyers’ 6-0 start is their best since winning the first nine games in 2003-04.

Marquette (5-1) was beaten at its own fast-paced game. The Golden Eagles got a career-high 28 points from Wesley Matthews and 19 points from Dominic James.

The Flyers matched Marquette’s quickness on the perimeter by alternating guards and also got a strong performance on the inside from Chris Wright, who finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and from freshman Chris Johnson, who had 12 points and 11 boards.

Stephen Thomas converted a three-point play and Johnson tipped in a basket as Dayton expanded a one-point halftime lead to eight early in the second. And the Flyers kept going right at Marquette. Lowery hit a 3-pointer off the dribble and Wright’s flying slam dunk gave Dayton a 54-45 lead with 13:13 to go.

Wright drove for another basket and Johnson converted a three-point play for a 59-46 lead with about 12 minutes to go. When Mickey Perry drove for yet another layup, the Flyers were up by 15 with just under 11 minutes left.

Lowery hit another jumper, just beating the shot clock, to give the Flyers a 71-53 lead with 7:34 to go.

Marquette battled back as James hit two baskets and Matthews scored and then made a pair of free throws after a steal to cut the lead to 10 with 5:33 remaining, a stretch that saw the Flyers miss three straight free throws.

David Cubillan’s 3-pointer with just over five minutes left got the Golden Eagles within eight, but Dayton hung on as London Warren sank a jumper and the Flyers found the touch from the line, making seven straight. They hit 12 of their final 16 free throws.

Lowery, a junior college transfer, had 11 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting. The Flyers led by as many as eight in the opening half and were up 33-32 at the break when Matthews missed a jumper right before the buzzer.

November 28, 2008 | AP Press

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Marcus Johnson scored eight of his team-high 16 points in overtime Friday night as Dayton beat Auburn 60-59 in the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

Johnson, a 6-foot-3 guard, scored four points at the start of the overtime period for a 52-49 Dayton lead and the Flyers (5-0) never trailed again.

After driving one-handers by Chris Wright and London Warren gave Dayton a 56-52 lead with 31 seconds to play, Johnson protected the advantage by making four straight free throws to clinch the victory.

DeWayne Reed scored a game-high 22 points for Auburn (3-2), including four 3-point baskets in a contest marked by poor shooting on both sides.

The teams combined to miss their first 29 3-point attempts and Dayton wound up 0-for-24 from 3-point range. Auburn was 7-for-31.

Wright had 10 points for Dayton while Korvotney Barber and Tay Waller scored 10 points each for Auburn.

November 25, 2008 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Chris Wright scored 16 points, including two dunks in the game’s first few minutes as Dayton took an early lead and never trailed, beating Mercer 71-53 Tuesday night in the second round of the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

Luke Fabrizius hit two consecutive 3-pointers that started a 13-2 run and put Dayton (4-0) ahead 30-10. Fabrizius ended the run with another 3-pointer and the Flyers would keep a double digit lead the rest of the way.

Charles Little scored 11 points and Marcus Johnson added 10 for Dayton. Wright also had 11 rebounds.

Daniel Emerson scored 13 points, Calvin Henry had 12 and Mark Hall 10 for Mercer (3-2), which had outrebounded their previous opponents — including Alabama and Auburn — by an average of 15.5 per game.

Dayton, which plays Auburn in the tournament on Friday, grabbed 48 rebounds to Mercer’s 31.

November 23, 2008 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Marcus Johnson led his Dayton Flyers to a lopsided 78-38 win Sunday over Bethune-Cookman, posting a team-high 16 points during the opening game of the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

The Flyers (3-0) opened with a 13-2 lead in their largest win since a 44-point victory over Morehead State in 2001. They closed the game with a 20-1 run.

Chris Johnson posted 14 points for Dayton and Charles Little had 10. As a team, Dayton outscored the Wildcats (1-2) in the paint, 36-6.

Bethune-Cookman’s Clifford Reed led with 19 points. followed by Alexander Starling with nine.

DAYTON, Ohio — Chris Wright scored 18 points as Dayton pulled away in the second half to beat Delaware State 62-42 Wednesday night.

Dayton (2-0) scored 30 points off turnovers and brought down 41 rebounds to Delaware State’s 28. The Flyers expanded a 28-21 halftime lead with the help of six second-half 3-pointers and were ahead by as many as 28 points in the game’s closing minutes.

Rob Lowery scored nine points and had four steals, while Wright and Kurt Huelsman each grabbed seven rebounds for Dayton. Eleven players scored for the Flyers.

Donald Johnson scored 11 points while Arturo Dubois had nine points and eight rebounds for the Hornets (1-3).

DAYTON, Ohio — Marcus Johnson scored 17 points, including a dunk off a steal that broke a tie with three minutes remaining, as Dayton beat Wofford 52-49 Sunday night.

Dayton (1-0) trailed for much of the first half but held a close lead for most of the second until Wofford’s Corey Godzinski hit a free throw and a 3-pointer to put the Terriers (0-1) up 41-40.

Dayton’s Kurt Huelsman made two free throws to put the Flyers in front again, but Junior Salters hit a 3-pointer for Wofford.

Johnson came back with a jumper to make it 44-all with 4:16 left, then followed with his dunk a minute later to put Dayton in front for good. Rob Lowery made a jumper and two free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Salters scored 15 points and Tim Johnson had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Wofford. Chris Wright had 17 points for Dayton.