Alabama Men’s Basketball Falls to Dayton, 77-72, Tuesday Afternoon

The Alabama men’s basketball team fell to the Dayton Flyers, 77-72, Tuesday afternoon at the Coleman Coliseum in the second game of the 2016-17 campaign. Senior Corban Collins and redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Alabama went on a 10-2 run to start the game, including a pair a three-pointers from junior Riley Norris. Dayton responded immediately, as the Flyers went on score eight straight points to tie the game at 10-10. Midway through the first half, Dayton held a 15-13 lead. Both teams seesawed back-and-forth, as a three-pointer from senior Corban Collins tied the score at 20-20, before the Tide took the lead at 22-20 on a dunk from senior Jimmie Taylor.

Alabama extended the lead to three points with just a little over three minutes to play in the first half, as Collins drove the lane to bring to score to 27-24. The Tide maintained a three point lead until junior Ar’Mond Davis sunk two free throws with 17.2 seconds left in the half to extend Alabama’s lead to five at 36-31. Alabama was able to keep Dayton from getting off a shot in the final seconds to take a 36-31 lead going into halftime. Offensively, Norris and Collins led the Tide with eight and seven points, respectively. Alabama scored 12 points off of eight Dayton turnovers, compared to the Flyers’ three points off of turnovers. The Tide dominated the rebound category 20-14, and it had seven offensive boards while limiting Dayton to one.

The narrative remained the same to begin the second half as both teams continued to exchange points, and the Tide held a 42-39 lead at the first media timeout with 15:36 left in regulation. Dayton’s Darrell Davis drained a three-pointer with 11:50 on the clock to tie the score at 49-49 for the first time since 6:37 left in the first half. Back-to-back layups from sophomore Avery Johnson and Dazon Ingram gave the Tide a four point lead at 53-49 at midway point of the second half. The Flyers responded with a 7-0 run to take a three point lead at 56-53, before the Tide battled back to tie the score at 58-58 with 5:01 left to play in regulation.

The Tide trailed by four with 1:16 left to play, before Collins converted a three-point play to trim the Dayton lead to one at 68-67. The Flyers’ Scoochie Smith went on to score a layup and hit a free throw to extend the lead to four at 71-67 with 32 seconds left to play. With 26 second left in regulation, Collins weaved through the lane to convert a layup to cut the lead to two at 71-69. Dayton went on a 6-3 run to close out the game and earn a 77-72 road victory. The Tide shot 40.6 percent from the field in the second half, while collecting 20 more total rebounds.

Alabama went 23-for-59 from the field in the 40 minute contest, while going 20-for-30 from the free throw line. The Tide collected 40 total rebounds, including 18 offensive rebounds compared the Flyers’ five.

The Tide will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 18, when it hosts Ball State at Coleman Coliseum at 8 p.m. CT. Friday’s contest is Alabama’s second game of the Las Vegas Main Event, and it is set to broadcast on the SEC Network.