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Atlantic 10 Basketball: Dayton rallies late to get road win at Rhode Island

By Andrew Nostvick

Jan 27, 2017; Richmond, VA, USA; Dayton Flyers forward Xeyrius Williams (20) shoots the ball over Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Doug Brooks (5) in the first half at Stuart C. Siegel Center. The Rams won 73-68. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 27, 2017; Richmond, VA, USA; Dayton Flyers forward Xeyrius Williams (20) shoots the ball over Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Doug Brooks (5) in the first half at Stuart C. Siegel Center. The Rams won 73-68. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Two key three-pointers down the stretch sealed the Atlantic 10 basketball regular season sweep for the Flyers over Rhode Island.

The Dayton Flyers completed its regular season sweep of the Rhode Island Rams Friday night thanks to a 75-74 victory.

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Xeyrius Williams played the hero for the Flyers due to two three-pointers in the final seconds, including the go-ahead bucket with seven seconds left. Williams finished with 13 points.

Williams’ night led a Dayton bench that scored 24 points, compared to just three for Rhode Island.

Rhode Island appeared on its way to winning after Jared Terrell banked in a lay-up with a minute left to give the Rams a 71-69 lead. Kuran Iverson added a pair of free throws to make the Rhode Island lead 73-69 with 24 seconds left.

Iverson presented a challenge for the Dayton defense as he finished the night with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Dayton’s defense kept Rhode Island in check for the final seconds as Williams made his three’s.

The Flyers put together a solid effort to get the win despite poor shooting in the first half. Dayton started out the game shooting 3-of-15 and would finish the half 8-of-29. However, thanks to 10-of-16 free-throw shooting, Dayton only trailed by six points (36-30) at halftime.

Kendall Pollard finished the game as Dayton’s leading scorer with 17 points. Pollard has been on a tear as of late, averaging 19 points in his last five games.

Dayton’s win, which puts them at 10-2 in the conference, gives them a half-game edge over VCU for first in the Atlantic 10 standings. It’s also the fourth straight victory for the Flyers, who haven’t lost since they played VCU on Jan. 27.

VCU, who is 9-2 in the conference, will try to keep pace with Dayton when they take on Davidson Saturday night.

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The loss for Rhode Island drops them to 8-4 in conference play, which places them fourth behind Richmond. The Rams loss snaps a four-game winning streak.

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