Dayton knocks UMass out of the A-10's

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - Led by a 31-7 run between the 6:43 mark of the first half and 16:46 in the second half, Dayton defeated UMass, 78-50 on the Atlantic 10 Championship first round on Tuesday night at the Mullins Center. The Flyers, led by 13 points from Luke Fabrizius, shot 13-of-23 from 3-point range and had four scorers in double figures. Freddie Riley led the Minutemen with 15 points, all in the second half. Dayton advances to face top-seeded Xavier on Friday at noon at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The Flyers shot 53.1 percent overall from the field, including a 52 percent mark from behind the mark. The Minutemen shot 28.1 percent for the game and were 6-of-30 from long range, four of which came from Riley. The Flyers held a 42-34 advantage on the boards.

Fabrizius finished 4-of-6 from behind the arc, while Josh Parker was 3-of-5 and Ralph Hill was 2-of-3.

Riley, who was 0-for-1 in the first half, shot 5-of-8 in the second half, including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers.

Dayton took its largest lead of the game, 30 points, 52-22 with 13:04 left, but the Minutemen went on a 14-4 run over a 4:39 span, led by nine-straight points from Riley, to make it a 20-point game, 56-36 with 7:46 left.

After leading by 21 at the half, Dayton opened the second half with a 10-2 run to expand its lead to 29, 47-18 with 16:46 left.

Dayton closed the half with an 11-0 run, part of a 21-5 Flyers advantage over the final 7:45 of the half to blow open what was a five-point game, 16-11, and give them a 37-16 halftime lead.

UMass shot 20.7 percent in the first half, including 2-of-15 from 3-point range, while Dayton shot 54.2 percent and was 7-of-10 from behind the arc. Fabrizius and Spearman were a combined 5-of-6 from long range in the opening period and each had nine points. Gurley made four of the Minutemen's six field goals in the half and had 10 points.

The game began as a defensive slugfest between the two clubs, just as their regular season meeting did, a 55-50 UMass victory. The Minutemen missed their first five shots of the game and started 1-of-15 from the field, but their defensive kept them in the game as Dayton took a 13-5 lead 10 minutes in.