Landers leads No. 20 Dayton past Saint Joseph’s, 80-67

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trey Landers and Ryan Mikesell each scored 18 points as No. 20 Dayton fought off some sluggishness and pulled away for an 80-67 win over Saint Joseph’s on Sunday.

Ibit Watson and Obi Toppin added 15 points apiece and Jalen Crutcher scored 10 for the Flyers.

Ryan Daly scored 22 points to lead Saint Joseph’s. Cameron Brown scored 16 and Myles Douglas had 15.

The Flyers (11-3, 2-0 Atlantic 10) ended a nine-game losing streak at Hawk Hill dating back to a 66-62 win on Jan. 29, 2000. But Saint Joseph’s (3-11, 0-2), which has lost 10 of 11 and was coming off an 84-52 loss at Richmond on Thursday night, managed to keep it close for much of the afternoon.

Dayton struggled from the floor, never getting into the offensive flow it showed on Thursday night during an 84-58 win over La Salle. That allowed Saint Joseph’s to hang around in the first half despite shooting 11 of 27.

The Hawks sprinted out to a six-point lead less than a minute into the second half thanks to two 3-pointers by Brown. Dayton responded with an 11-2 run to reclaim the lead, and the Flyers did not trail again.

Dayton took control of the game after Toppin picked up his fourth foul and was sent to the bench at the 14:40 mark of the second half, forcing more of a perimeter game that punched holes in the Hawks’ defensive scheme of collapsing in the lane.

BIG PICTURE

Dayton: With several Top 25 teams losing the past week as conference play got underway, Dayton will likely move up from No. 20 when the new AP rankings are released on Monday.

St. Joseph’s: The Hawks have lost 10 of 11, but played two of their better games of the year against ranked opponents — a 78-66 loss to Villanova on Dec. 7 and Sunday against the Flyers.

UP NEXT

Dayton: Heads home to face Massachusetts next Saturday.

Saint Joseph’s: Hosts Duquesne on Wednesday.