DAYTON, Ohio — The Dayton Flyers erased a 17-point first-half deficit on Saturday night, then watched Northern Illinois steal the game back in overtime, falling 81-76 at UD Arena, according to the University of Dayton’s game recap.
Northern Illinois led 35-18 with 3:56 left in the first half, Press Pros Magazine reported, and the Huskies — 19.5-point underdogs, according to Press Pros — took apart a heavily favored Dayton team for most of the night. Dayton (1-1) answered with 11 of the next 14 points to cut the margin to 38-29, NIU Athletics reported, and the Flyers completed the comeback in the second half, which ended tied 67-67.
The tying shot belonged to the visitors. Max Weisbrod hit a three-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 67, and Northern Illinois got a stop after a Dayton timeout to force overtime, according to NIU Athletics. Weisbrod finished with 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists, and teammate David Douglas Jr. scored a game-high 27 points, NIU Athletics said.
Overtime belonged to the Huskies, 14-9. Bennett Basich scored seven of Northern Illinois’ 14 overtime points, finishing with nine, according to NIU Athletics, and Weisbrod’s corner three made it 79-74 with 29 seconds left, Press Pros Magazine reported. Amaël L’Etang’s layup cut it to 79-76 with 12 seconds remaining, ending Dayton’s scoring, according to the University of Dayton’s recap.
Freshman Aiden Derkack led the Flyers with 20 points and 10 rebounds, sophomore Landen Joseph added 19 points and L’Etang chipped in 16, according to NIU Athletics and the University of Dayton. The win was Northern Illinois’ first under new head coach Matt Majkrzak and lifted the Huskies to 1-2, NIU Athletics said.
The loss will sting because of how it was built: a 17-point hole, a full comeback, a lead late in the second half — and then a tying three from the visitors with 13 seconds left, followed by an overtime in which Northern Illinois simply made more plays, outscoring Dayton 14-9. For a Flyers team that opened the season with an 89-58 rout of NJIT at the same arena, it was an early lesson in how thin the margin is when a desperate opponent shoots with nothing to lose.
Dayton gets a quick chance to answer at home: the Flyers welcome Siena to UD Arena on Tuesday, November 10, at 7 p.m., according to the University of Dayton.