Nov. 28, 2008

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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Junior Marcus Johnson converted six consecutive free throws in overtime to help the Dayton Flyers hang on for a 60-59 win over the Auburn Tigers in the 2008 Chicago Invitational Challenge.

With the victory Dayton is 5-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign and unbeaten in its first five contests for only the second time in the last nine seasons.

Johnson finished with 16 points and converted all eight free throw attempts. Chris Wright notched his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, while Stephen Thomas recorded a career high eight points.

The win helped Dayton overcome a horrendous shooting performance from the outside. The Flyers were 0-for-24 from three-point range and shot 28 percent from the field.

However, Dayton converted 20-of-31 free throws and made eight in a row. The Flyer defense smothered the Tiger attack forcing 20 turnovers, held Auburn to 35 percent shooting from the field and recorded eight steals and four blocks.

Wright opened the overtime with a three-point play to give Dayton a 50-47 lead a minute into the extra frame. After a Tiger bucket, Johnson converted two free throws to keep it a three-point game with less than three minutes to play.

Auburn tied it at 52-52 with a three-pointer with a minute and a half to go. Wright added a floater in the lane to give the Flyers a two-point cushion with at the 1:14 mark.

UD then forced a missed Tiger shot. That allowed London Warren to convert a layup with 25 seconds to go and extend the lead to 56-52. The Tigers nailed a trey and cut the Flyer advantage to 56-55 with 16 seconds in overtime.

After successfully converting the inbounds play, Johnson connected on both free throws to extend the Flyer lead to 58-55 with 11 seconds remaining. A Flyer foul allowed the Tigers to convert two free-throws of their own cutting the deficit back to one at 58-57.

Dayton then ran seven seconds off the clock allowing Johnson to knock down both attempts at the foul line extending the lead to 60-57. Another Flyer foul allowed the Tigers to get back to the charity stripe. Auburn would hit the first free throw and accidentally convert the second. A miss would have allowed the Tigers to have a shot at a field goal to either tie or win the game.

Neither team converted a single point in the final 3:14 of regulation. The Flyers had chances to take the lead in the final three minutes of regulation, but a traveling call against Wright, a missed alley-oop and a turnover.

Dayton had a seven point lead at 43-36 with 6:38 left in the second half. But the Tigers would go on an 11-4 run to tie the contest up at 47-47 with 3:14 remaining. Dayton had five key defensive stops in the final three minutes of the ball game to force overtime.

With UD up 31-26 just 14 minutes into the second half, Devin Searcy had a putback that gave the Flyers their largest lead of the night. However, the Tiger would hit a couple of three-pointers and cut the deficit to 33-32 three minutes later.

Thomas then added a mid-range jumper to put the Flyers back ahead by three. Auburn answered and tied the game at 36-36 with 7:52 to play.

It was back-and-forth in the first half as well despite poor shooting from the field by both clubs. UD led 26-21 but both teams combined to miss their first 26 shots from three-point range.

Wright led Dayton with five points and 12 boards in the first half while Thomas led all scorers with six. Dayton held a 35-20 advantage on the boards despite shooting 4-of-13 at the free throw line and 11-of-39 from the field.

The Flyers will play the No. 15/15 Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. ET.