Paul Williams scored 18 points, Chris Johnson hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute and Dayton beat Wake Forest 80-76 in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic on Thursday night.
Johnson's shot from the corner gave Dayton (3-1) a 77-75 lead with 35.4 seconds left. Wake Forest (3-1) turned the ball over on its next possession, and then fouled Williams, who made 1 of 2 free throws for a three-point advantage with 9.2 seconds to go.
After Wake Forest's Tony Chennault connected on one of two from the foul line, Johnson made two free throws for an 80-76 lead.
A back-and-forth contest saw Dayton go up 67-66 with 4:23 remaining on Williams three-pointer. Wake Forest responded with five straight points, all from Travis McKie, to take a four-point lead.
Matt Kavanaugh had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Kevin Dillard finished with 15 points for Dayton.
Wake Forest got 20 points from Travis McKie. C.J Harris added 18.`
Chase Fischer connected from beyond the arc and Harris hit a short jumper as Wake Forest took a 61-55 lead with eight minutes left.
Wake Forest grabbed a 46-44 advantage on Fischer's 3-pointer six minutes into the second half.
Williams hit three 3's as Dayton went ahead 44-37 with 16 1/2 minutes to play.
Harris had 12 first-half points, including a late 3 that pulled Wake Forest even at 33. There were six ties and eight lead changes during the first half.
Dillard hit a 3 as Dayton scored the game's first seven points. Wake Forest, keyed by long-range jumpers by Harris and McKie, then scored eight points in a row.
Both teams went through a cool stretch after the strong starts. A pair of baskets by Kavanaugh put Dayton up 18-17 midway through the half.
Kavanaugh had 10 points in the opening 20 minutes.
The game marked the first time the teams played each other since Dayton beat Wake Forest in a matchup of Top 20 teams in 1960.
