Game Recap: Dayton Flyers defeat George Washington Colonials

University of Dayton Arena is a very tough place to play. This is a very easy statement to say with the Dayton Flyers having won 31 of their last 32 games at home, including 17 in a row in conference.

The Flyers home court advantage was in full effect during their 77-70 win over George Washington from the very start. George Washington had a shot clock violation on its first possession followed by a rushed shot on the next which seemed to be attributed to the student section "counting down" early on the shot clock.

After these two early mistakes George Washington seemed to calm down.  The Colonials and the Flyers kept trading blows for the first five minutes feeling each other out. George Washington was trying to get the ball inside which didn't seem to work early getting outscored in the paint 10-0 at one point in the first half. Dayton was trying to get out, turn up the pace and run the floor. Dyshawn Pierre was able to do it all early for Dayton scoring its first 8 points of the game.

Dayton was able to get out and run which was part of the reason while they were able to get out to an eight-point lead over the Colonials, but the Flyers stopped rolling once George Washington coach Mike Lonergan switched from man to zone on defense. This helped the Colonials to tie up the game. Pierre finished the half by hitting a three with three seconds left in the half though, putting his first half total at 11. Pierre's three got the crowd going and had the Flyers going into half with the momentum they lost earlier.

The second half was a back and forth affair. George Washington kept Dayton on its toes switching between man and a 1-3-1 zone. The Flyers and Colonials both kept trading shots and when it seemed that the Flyers would make a big run, Tyler Cavanaugh from George Washington would make a shot to keep the Colonials in the game. Cavanaugh finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough to hold off the Flyers.

The Flyers went on a 9-0 run at the end of the to claim the victory.  With about nine seconds remaining, the game did get chippy with some verbal sparring between the two teams, but this did not escalate into a serious matter as both coaches came on the floor to separate players.

Dayton improves to 14-3 overall and 4-1 in the A-10 while George Washington is now 14-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference.