National Basketball Association
Dayton 84, Rhode Island 57
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Where: Ryan Center, Kingston, Rhode Island
Officials:
# Paul Szac, # Justin Porterfield, # Wally Rutecki
Attendance:
7895
By Field Level Media
Obi Toppin scored a game-high 20 points Wednesday night as No. 3 Dayton moved within a game of a perfect run through the Atlantic 10 Conference with an 84-57 drilling of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I.
Jalen Crutcher added 17 points and five assists for the 28-2 Flyers, who only need a home win Saturday night against 12-18 George Washington to finish 18-0 in the conference. Trey Landers chipped in a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double.
Jeff Dowtin scored 16 points to pace the Rams (20-9, 12-5), who lost for the fourth time in six games and missed their best chance to enhance their flagging hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Leading scorer Fatts Russell hit just 2 of 13 shots and finished with nine points, 10 under his average.
Dayton entered the night as the nation's top-shooting team in field-goal percentage and made 46.8 percent, about 6 percentage points under its norm. But the Flyers clamped down on Rhode Island, limiting it to 17-of-59 shooting from the field, 28.8 percent.
There were three ties before the first TV timeout, but a layup by Rodney Chatman at the 15:26 mark put Dayton ahead to stay. That started an 11-2 burst that Landers ended with a three-point play to make it 18-9 with 12:43 left.
Jordy Tshimanga's layup gave the Flyers their first double-figure lead at 25-14 with 9:16 remaining. After Russell's two foul shots pulled the Rams within 25-20, Dayton gradually pulled away in the last seven minutes of the half. The Flyers finished the period with a 21-10 run, Crutcher and Toppin combining for 14 points, to take a 46-30 advantage to intermission.
Toppin dunked off a Landers pass to up the Flyers' lead to 63-42 with 10:18 left in the game, and the margin reached as high as 29 points in the final minutes.
The teams combined for four technicals, 42 personal fouls and 56 free-throw attempts in an occasionally contentious game. Rhode Island was a dreadful 17 of 35 at the foul line.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Dayton |
|
Rhode Island |
Obi Toppin 20 |
Scoring |
Jeff Dowtin 16 |
Jalen Crutcher 5 |
Assists |
Fatts Russell 4 |
Trey Landers 14 |
Rebounds |
Cyril Langevine 8 |
Obi Toppin 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Fatts Russell 5 |
Jordy Tshimanga 1 |
Steals |
Fatts Russell 2 |
Trey Landers 1 |
Blocks |
Cyril Langevine 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Dayton
|
84 |
46.8 |
8-20 |
18-21 |
16 |
47 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
Rhode Island
|
57 |
28.8 |
6-22 |
17-35 |
8 |
36 |
4 |
4 |
7 |