The Dayton Flyers erased a 17-point first-half deficit Saturday night, Nov. 7, but ran out of answers in overtime, falling to Northern Illinois 81-76 at UD Arena, according to the University of Dayton’s official game recap.
Northern Illinois stunned the home crowd early, building a lead as large as 17 in the first half and taking a 40-29 advantage into the locker room. Dayton spent the entire second half climbing back, outscoring the Huskies 38-27 after halftime to tie the game at 67-67 and force overtime.
Freshman Aiden Derkack led Dayton with 20 points and sophomore Landen Joseph added 19, the university reported. Joseph had paced the Flyers in the rough first half as well, scoring nine points before the break while Northern Illinois threatened to run away with the game.
In the extra period, the Huskies made the plays Dayton could not. Amaël L’Etang’s layup with 12 seconds left pulled the Flyers within 79-76, ending Dayton’s scoring for the night, and Northern Illinois closed out the five-point win, according to the university’s recap.
The loss drops Dayton to 1-1 after a promising start to the season. The Flyers opened Monday with an 89-58 rout of NJIT at UD Arena, powered by double-doubles from Derkack and L’Etang, but Saturday’s slow start proved too much to overcome against a Northern Illinois team that had entered the night winless on the road.
For the Huskies, the win was a statement result — a road victory in one of college basketball’s toughest home environments, earned by surviving a furious second-half comeback rather than protecting a lead comfortably.
The defeat also snapped the momentum of a home stand that began with such promise. Dayton’s defense, which held NJIT under 60 points in the opener, could not slow Northern Illinois early, and the Flyers’ offense took nearly a full half to find its rhythm — a combination that left the comeback just short despite a 38-point second half.
Dayton does not have long to regroup. The Flyers welcome Siena to UD Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m., the university announced — the next chance for a young roster to show it learned from Saturday’s first-half hole.