Toppin, Crutcher lead No. 7 Flyers past Richmond, 87-79

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Odi Toppin had 24 points and 12 rebounds and No. 7 Dayton pulled away after halftime and won its ninth straight game, beating Richmond 87-79 on Saturday night.

Jalen Crutcher added 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Flyers (18-2, 7-0 Atlantic 10). They led 40-32 at halftime and took control with a 12-0 run after Grant Golden opened the second-half scoring for Richmond.

Jacob Gilyard scored 27 points and Nick Sherod had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Spiders (15-5, 5-2). Richmond trailed by as many as 20 points after halftime, but used a 17-5 run to get within 71-63 with 3:47 to play. But Crutcher hit his fourth 3-pointer and Trey Landers hit a layup off a feed from Toppin to rebuild the advantage to 13 and Richmond’s rally came up short.

The Flyers used a big finish to the first half to be in position to pull away. Richmond led 28-24 after consecutive 3-pointers by Gilyard, but Dayton outscored them 16-2 over the next 5 1/2 minutes. The spree was highligted by three dunks by Toppin and 3-pointers by Crutcher and Ibi Watson.

Watson added 14 points for the Flyers, who shot 53.7% (29-54).

Nathan Cayo had 15 for the Spiders, outscored 21-9 on the fast break.

BIG PICTURE

Dayton: The 6-foot-9 Toppin is, for sure, the centerpiece of the Flyers’ attack, but far from the only highlight-maker. Watson had a steal and dunk while surrounded by at least two Spiders early in the game, and Crutcher slithered through a crowd for a banked-in layup a few minutes later.

Richmond: The Spiders have had to change their offense a bit without scoring leader Blake Francis (17.6 ppg), out 4-6 weeks with a fractured sternum, but the offense still goes through 6-foot-10 Grant Golden on most possessions and leans more heavily on Gilyard, Nick Sherod and Nathan Cayo for scoring. Most of Cayo and Sherod’s points came with the Spiders trying to get back in the game.

UP NEXT

The Flyers play at Duquesne on Wednesday night.

The Spiders play at crosstown and A-10 rival VCU on Tuesday night.