The University of Dayton men’s basketball defeated USC Upstate on Sunday afternoon at UD Arena, 72-68.

Five Flyers scored in double-figures, led by sophomore Devin Oliver’s career-high 12 points in 19 minutes of action. Oliver shot 4-of-6 from the field, converted on all four free-throw attempts and tallied five rebounds. Eight of Oliver’s points came in the game’s last 10 minutes after it was tied for the last time 51-51.

Senior guard Paul Williams tied a career-high eight rebounds to pace the Flyers on the boards while adding 10 points. Josh Benson and Kevin Dillard both also added 10 points. All of Dillard’s points came in the second half after he played just nine minutes before halftime because of foul trouble.

Dayton improves to 7-3 on the season heading into the university’s semester examinations week. The Spartans fall to 6-4 after suffering their first back-to-back losses of the season.

USC Upstate’s Torrey Craig registered a game-high 21 points. Craig made a 3-point field goal with 8:03 remaining in the second half to give Upstate a 54-53 advantage. It was the Spartans’ last of 11 lead changes throughout the game as the Flyers took the go-ahead lead on an Oliver layup off an offensive rebound.

Luke Fabrizius led the Flyers to a 32-32 tie at the half with three of Dayton’s five 3-point buckets leading up to intermission. Fabrizius finished with nine points in nine minutes of play.

After attempting just two free throws in the first half, the Flyers shot 13-of-14 from the charity stripe in the second half. Dayton made 11 of 12 free throws in the last four minutes of the game to erase any Spartan comeback. USC Upstate went 5-for-7 from the line for the game.

The Flyers shot .578 (26-45) from the field, .429 (6-14) from three-point range and .874 (14-16) from the line in the win.

UD continues its seven-game homestand next Saturday at UD Arena by hosting Florida International at 7 p.m.

Game notes from DDN:  Maybe UD not built for blowout wins