Brian Gregory’s team got off to a hot start in the first half, knocking down seven three pointers in taking a 12-point lead with just less than seven minutes remaining. But Dayton tends to make things harder than they need to be, and such was the case against St. Joseph’s at UD Arena. The Hawks eventually took the lead into the locker room, but thanks to the play of Chris Johnson and Chris Wright the Flyers pulled out a 65-59 win to move to 2-1 in Atlantic 10 play (14-4 overall). Wright posted his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Johnson added 13. Carl Jones led St. Joe’s (5-11, 0-3) with 19 points and C.J. Aiken added 11 and three blocks.

Of the ten field goals Dayton hit in the first half seven came from behind the arc, and it’s a good thing the Flyers were so hot given their 3-for-15 shooting from inside of the line. Johnson, Luke Fabrizius and Paul Williams knocked down a pair of three pointers apiece for Dayton, but the law of averages allowed the Hawks to fight their way back into the game. St. Joe’s got back into the game from the foul line, outscoring Dayton by seven from the charity stripe and by nine (9-0) in second-chance points. Justin Crosgile provided seven points off the bench in the first half and St. Joe’s closed the half on an 11-3 run to take a 35-31 lead at the intermission.