Men's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker in Opener 81-80 at Dayton

Saturday, November 9

Dayton, Ohio

2 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

0-1

Dayton

1-0

IPFW

University of Dayton

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media

Men's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker in Opener 81-80 at Dayton

11/9/2013 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (.pdf)

DAYTON, Ohio - Dayton made a three-point basket with one second to play in the game, giving the hosts an 81-80 victory over the IPFW Mastodons in each squad's season opener.

The Mastodons put four players in double figure scoring, led by a career-high 18 points from Pierre Bland, while Steve Forbes tied his career-high that he set as a freshman at Stetson with 17 points, making 7-of-8 shots from the field. Mo Evans, in his first collegiate game, scored a dozen points, while Isaiah McCray scored 11. Michael Kibiloski and Joe Reed each scored nine for the 'Dons, as Joe Edwards added four.

Edwards pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, as the Mastodons were out-rebounded 41-to-35 in the game. McCray and Evans each dished out four assists, as Forbes, McCray, and Brent Calhoun each had two blocked shots.

The teams traded a lead back-and-forth through the first two and a half minutes, with IPFW leading 6-4, before the host flyers rattled off a 13-2 run to turn the two-point deficit into a nine-point advantage, a lead they would not give up until halfway through the second half.

IPFW fought back with a 9-0 run to tie the score at 17 after a three-point play by Evans, and tied the score at 19 on a jumper by Bland. A 13-2 run by Dayton put the hosts advantage to 11, and increased to as many as 12 with 1:22 to play in the first half, before the 'Dons cut the gap to nine at the break.

Dayton scored ten seconds into the second half, pushing ahead by 11 before the Mastodons answered with a 10-2 run, capped by a Bland lay-in with 17:33 to play in the game.

The Mastodons kept chipping away at the deficit, after trailing by two at 57-55, IPFW scored the next nine points, as a Reed three-pointer with 7:45 to play in the game gave the Mastodons their largest lead of the game at 64-57. The Flyers ran off an immediate 11-1 run to lead by three at 68-65.

Over the last three minutes, the largest lead by either team came when the 'Dons led by five at 76-71, capping a 5-0 run that consisted of a three-pointer by McCray as the shot clock was expiring, and a pair of free throws by Bland.

The Mastodons made their final eight free throws of the game, including a perfect 6-for-6 in the last 35 seconds of the contest; however, two IPFW turnovers in the final 11 seconds of the game, coupled with a three-pointer by Jordan Sibert with one second on the clock sent the Flyers to the narrow win in front of 12,145 fans at the UD Arena.

IPFW made 28-of-65 shots from the field at 43.1 percent, 7-of-21 (33.3%) from long range, and 81 percent (17-of-21) from the charity stripe. Dayton hit 46 percent of its shots from the field (29-of-63), 53.8% from long range (7-of-13), and 69.6 percent (16-of-23) on its free throws.

Dyshawn Pierre scored a game-high 24 points while pulling down eight rebounds, while Khari Price scored 17 points and Jordan Sibert 10, including the game-winner.

The Mastodons return to action for their 2013-14 home opener, when the squad hosts IU-Kokomo in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Gates Sports Center as part of the Holiday Inn Downtown Marina Islanders Basketball Tournament.

~ Feel the Rumble ~