DAYTON, Ohio _ The No. 13 Dayton Flyers lived up to their billing as the best team in the Atlantic 10 Conference, beating Virginia Commonwealth, 79-65, on Tuesday at UD Arena.
The game was tied at 41 early in the second half when Dayton began a 22-0 run on a dunk by Obi Toppin at the 17:06 mark. The Flyers led 63-41 at the end of the run. The Rams didn't score again until the 10:51 mark. From that point on, the Flyers just had to hold the lead, and VCU never got closer than 10 points.
Dayton (15-2, 4-0) has won 14 of 15 games by double digits.
Toppin led the Flyers with 20 points. Jalen Crutcher scored 20. Trey Landers had 16, and Ibi Watson added 13.
Dayton won its sixth straight game and ended a four-game losing streak in the series against VCU. This was Dayton's first win against the Rams since January 2018.
Dayton outscored VCU 12-2 in the last four minutes of the first half to build a 38-33 halftime lead.
Dayton has not trailed at halftime all season. It trailed 31-26 after a free-throw by Isaac Vann with 4:48 to play. A layup by Crutcher with 3:20 to play started the 12-2 run.
Crutcher led Dayton with 14 points in the half. Toppin scored 11. Watson scored nine.
Nah'Shon Hyland scored 12 for VCU but picked up his third foul late in the half.
Dayton shot 45.2% from the field. VCU shot 50 percent. Dayton outscored VCU 11-2 at the free-throw line. The teams combined for 17 turnovers in an often-sloppy half.
