DAYTON, Ohio — The Dayton Flyers lost their second consecutive home game of the young season Tuesday night, falling 99-89 to Siena at UD Arena. Dayton has played three games and is 1-2, with both defeats coming in front of its own fans.
Siena held a 46-45 edge at the break. Dayton moved ahead 57-55 early in the second half, but the Saints answered with a 15-3 run to lead 70-60 and stretched the margin to as many as 12. The Flyers pulled within 70-68 with about eight minutes left before Siena’s Tim Ibukunoluwa hit a shot to push the lead back to four, and Brendan Coyle’s three-pointer with just over three minutes to play made it 82-75.
The difference came largely at the foul line. Siena made 28 of 33 free throws, including 24 of 26 after halftime, while Dayton converted only 6 of 12. The Flyers actually shot better from the field, hitting 54.5 percent against 44.8 percent for the Saints, but committed 18 turnovers that Siena turned into 20 points. Ibukunoluwa led Siena with 23 points. Dayton scored 48 of its points in the paint and 19 on fast breaks, but that was not enough to offset the gap at the line.
Freshman Aiden Derkack scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double to start his college career, the first true freshman in program history to do so. Sophomore Tristian Ford went a perfect 8 for 8 from the floor, including 5 for 5 on three-pointers, for a career-high 21 points. Landen Joseph set a season high with eight assists.
Dayton, a member of the Atlantic 10, plays Cincinnati next, in a Saturday night game on Nov. 14 at its home arena that starts at 7:30 p.m.