Obi Toppin capped a memorable day with 28 points and seven rebounds, Jalen Crutcher chipped in 17 points and five assists and Trey Landers added 12 points and 11 boards to help No. 5 Dayton survive an 80-70 victory over visiting Duquesne in Atlantic 10 action on Saturday afternoon.
The Flyers (25-2, 14-0 Atlantic 10) shot 50.9 percent (27-for-53) from the floor overall and outscored the Dukes (18-8, 8-6) 44-32 in the second half to avoid the upset and extend their winning streak to 16 games.
Sophomore guard Sincere Carry paced the Dukes with 21 points and six assists and Marcus Weathers and Baylee Steele each scored 17 points. Duquesne shot 48.3 percent, including 6 of 18 from 3-point range.
Toppin topped the 1,000-point mark for his career to become the 50th member in program history to achieve the milestone -- reaching the mark in the ninth fewest games in school history. He has 1,007 points.
The Flyers broke open a close game in the second half, spoiling the Dukes' bid for a rare road upset over a top-five team. Crutcher sparked the second-half surge by scoring 11 quick points on 3-for-4 shooting to pad Dayton's lead to 54-45 with 12:25 left.
Chatman buried a 3-pointer and Toppin added a dunk to increase the advantage to 59-47 with 11:14 to play. Toppin's thundering dunk lifted the lead to a comfortable 68-53.
Seven minutes later, Steele hit a 3-pointer and Carry added two free throws to slice the deficit to 68-58. The Flyers missed three straight shots, as Steele's layup brought the margin down to 74-66 with 1:34 remaining.
The Flyers made six free throws, four by Ryan Mikesell, in a final 1:04 to secure the conference victory.
In the first half, the Dukes made six of their first 11 shots to seize a 14-13 lead. Toppin scored on a lob dunk from Crutcher for his ninth point to give the Flyers their first lead at 15-14 at the 10:43 mark.
Weathers hit a short jumper to hand the Dukes a 29-27 with 4:27 remaining, but Toppin scored seven quick points as Dayton trailed 38-36 at halftime.
The Flyers overcame a 2-for-10 display from 3-point territory to shoot 14-for-26 (53.8 percent) from the field, while the Dukes shot 16-for-30 (53.3 percent) and committed only two turnovers.
Dayton was 6 of 20 from behind the arc overall.
--Field Level Media
