DAYTON, OH— Keon Johnson scored a game-high 24 points but Winthrop men's basketball fell 83-67 at Dayton, Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.

The Eagles fall to 4-3 on the year as they look to bounce back on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. when they host Greensboro College. Dayton is now 5-2 on the year.

Winthrop was within five points at 57-52 with 8:39 to play after Johnson hit two free throws. Dayton went on a 10-0 run to open up its largest lead at 67-52. Johnson answered the run with a three-point play and then Anders Broman cut the deficit to 11 with 5:29 left but the Flyers were able to pull away in the end.

Johnson finished the game 7-for-18 from the floor and a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line as he also had four rebounds and four assists. In the process he moved into 4^th on Winthrop's all-time scoring list with 1,466 points, passing Eagle Hall of Famer Tyson Waterman (1,461). Johnson is exactly 100 points away from moving into third. He was joined in double-figures by Xavier Cooks with 14 while Anders Broman came off the bench for 12 points as he made four triples for the second straight contest.

The Eagles shot 41 percent from the floor and 29 percent from three (8-for-28) while Dayton shot 52 percent from the field and outscored the Eagles 54-28 in the paint.

Winthrop trailed by six points at the break, but Dayton scored on a jumper by Charles Cooke to push the lead to eight points on the Flyers first second half possession. Roderick Perkins cut it to five points as he connected on his only triple of the game. With 15:43 left in the game Cooks drove baseline and scored as the Eagles trailed 37-34. The two teams traded buckets over the next few possessions and the lead was still three for Dayton with 13:31 to play after Johnson knocked down a jumper.

A quick 6-0 spurt put Dayton up 49-40 behind a couple of baskets inside by Kendall Pollard. Cooks cut it back to a seven-point deficit before Dayton pushed the lead to double-figures at 53-42. The Eagles pulled within seven points again after Cooks hit 1-of-2 free throws and Anders Broman hit a three in the corner. Dayton scored on its next two possessions but the Eagles responded with buckets of their own leading up to Johnson's free throws that made it a five-point game with 8:39 left.

Cooke led the Flyers with 20 points as he was one of four players in double-figures. Scoochie Smith added 15 points, Pollard had 12 and Kyle Davis added 11 points, five assists and three steals.

Dayton led 14-5 at the 14:29 mark of the first half but the Eagles went on a run and tied the game at 17-17 with 9:39 left in the half. Perkins scored the last four points of the 12-3 run which capped off on a Perkins layup as he drove all the way to the rim.

The lead was retained by Dayton but short lived as Johnson made two free throws to tie it at 19-19 with 8:41 left in the half. Neither team scored for two and a half minutes before Perkins put the Eagles up 21-19. After the Flyers went back on top Johnson hit a three for a 24-23 lead but Dayton ended the final three and a half minutes on a 10-3 run for a 33-27 lead at the break.

EXTRA DRIBBLE
-Winthrop has just four more non-conference contests before it opens Big South play at Charleston Southern on Dec. 29
-The Eagles lost for just the sixth time when Duby Okeke records three blocks in a single-game (Winthrop is 16-6 in games he gets at least 3)
-Okeke is just 10 blocks away from becoming the program's career leader in blocked shots as he now has 130
-Johnson now has 25 career games with 20 or more points
-Eagles are 18-6 in their last 24 contests dating back to last season