Uncasville, Conn. – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team fell to Tulsa in the Basketball Hall Of Fame Showcase at Mohegan Sun Aewna on Sunday afternoon by a score of 72-67. The Flyers are now 5-5 overall this season, while the Golden Hurricane improve their record to 9-3.

Josh Cunningham scored 15 points to lead Dayton, while Jalen Crutcher scored 14 points and Trey Landers and Obi Toppin both added 13 apiece.

Dayton will now return to UD Arena for a four-game homestand, beginning with Western Michigan on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. (ET).

GAME BREAKDOWN
  1st Half: Dayton 30, Tulsa 30

    Dayton made just two of its first 12 shots of the game from the field, allowing Tulsa to jump out to a 15-6 lead.
    After Tulsa extended its lead to 27-13 at the 6:19 mark, its largest of the game, the Flyers went on a 10-0 run, sparked by a fastbreak tomahawk slam from Obi Toppin off a feed from Jalen Crutcher to cut the deficit back to four.
    Tulsa went on a 5:10 scoring drought during Dayton’s 10-0 run, missing six straight field goals during that timeframe.
    The Flyers finished the final 6:19 of the half on a 17-3 scoring run to knot up the game at 30 apiece.
    Toppin was responsible for the game-tying points after sinking a pair of free throws on a 1-and-1 opportunity with six seconds left in the half.
     

2nd Half: Tulsa 72, Dayton 67

    Trey Landers kicked off scoring in the second half with a lay-in on the opening possession to give Dayton its first lead since the Flyers held a 1-0 advantage to open the game.
    Dayton got its largest lead of the game when Jalen Crutcher made a 3-pointer with 14:23 remaining to make the score 41-37.
    Tulsa answered with an 8-0 run, including six points from Martins Igbanu during that stretch.
    The Golden Hurricane led by a 68-58 margin with 2:28 to play, but the Flyers stormed back into the game with seven unanswered points, capped off by a 3-pointer from Crutcher to bring Dayton back within one possession, as the Flyers trailed 68-65 with 50 seconds to play.
    After Dayton’s defense got a stop the following possession, the Flyers got an opportunity to tie up the game, but Ryan Mikesell’s 3-pointer from the corner was off the mark.
    Curran Scott was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line in the final 11 seconds to put away the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

    Josh Cunningham led Dayton with 15 points and has now scored in double figures in seven of the eight games he has been active for.
    Cunningham was joined by Jalen Crutcher (14 points), as well as Trey Landers and Obi Toppin (13 apiece), in scoring double figures.
    Landers also corralled seven rebounds, which was tied with Ryan Mikesell for a team-high mark for the game.
    Mikesell and Crutcher both had three assists for the Flyers, which was a team-high.
    Tulsa made seven 3-point field goals, compared to just five for Dayton, despite shooting 10 less attempts than the Flyers.
    Dayton only committed five turnovers on the game and forced 12 Tulsa turnovers.
    The Flyers grabbed nine offensive rebounds to just two offensive boards for the Golden Hurricane and outscored them in second chance points by a 10-2 margin.    
     
    UP NEXT

    Dayton has four straight home games on the schedule, beginning with Western Michigan next Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. (ET).
    The four-game homestand also includes the Atlantic 10 Conference opener against Richmond on Jan. 6 at noon.
    Matchups with Presbyterian (Dec. 22 at 2:00 p.m.) and Georgia Southern (Dec. 29 at 3:30 p.m.) are sandwiched between Western Michigan and Richmond.