DAYTON, OH - Toledo (1-3) mounted a strong second-half comeback bid tonight but came up just a little bit short in a 76-70 defeat at Dayton (2-1). The contest was played before 12,211 fans and marked the 122nd straight game with an attendance of 11,000 or more at UD Arena.
Three Rockets scored in double figures with junior guard Tyrone Kent leading the way with 24 points. Junior guards Jonathan Amos and Ridley Johnson also reached double digits with 20 and 10 points, respectively.
Dayton was powered by freshman forward Chris Wright's 26-point, 12-rebound effort. Junior forward Charles Little tallied 20 points and the Flyers' leading scorer Brian Roberts contributed 12 points and nine boards.
Kent keyed the Rockets' rally late in the second half by knocking down three treys and also hitting three free throws in the final minute. The closest UT came in the closing moments was five points with 1:02 left on the clock after utilizing a full-court press to force back-to-back Flyer turnovers. The Rockets continued to press but Little broke free for a dunk and Wright knocked down two free throws to give Dayton some breathing room with a 70-61 cushion.
UT was able to cut into its deficit early in the second half with a 13-4 run to come within 48-40 with 10:46 to play on an Amos trey. Freshman guard Corey Bingham began the spurt with a three-pointer and Kent and Amos followed with traditional three-point plays. Kent then made one of two free throws before Amos connected from downtown to make it an eight-point contest.
Kent brought the Rockets within 54-47 with a trey at the 7:28 mark but Dayton appeared to end any hopes of a UT comeback by scoring nine straight points for a 63-47 lead with 4:29 remaining.
In the first half, Toledo jumped on top early taking a 5-1 advantage in the first two minutes and was matching the Flyers point-for-point for the first 10 minutes. A Kent three-pointer tied the score at 16-16 with 10:47 remaining in the first half, but Dayton scored eight straight points and held the Rockets without a field goal for the next six minutes and to just two baskets for the remainder of the half.
Head Coach Stan Joplin tried to stem the tide following back-to-back dunks by Wright and Little calling a timeout with 8:32 remaining in the first half with UT down 22-16. Johnson added another dunk though following an Amos miss at the charity stripe. The Flyers ended the half with a 59.1 field-goal percentage, and limited the Rockets to a 40.9 shooting mark.
Toledo returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 24 when it travels to Rhode Island (5-1). It will mark the second of three games the Rockets will play vs. Atlantic 10 schools this year.
