Dayton downs ETSU 75-61 behind Cooke's 24 points
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) Charles Cooke had 24 points, eight rebounds and a career-high four blocks, Kendall Pollard added 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and Dayton pulled away early to beat East Tennessee State 75-61 on Saturday to win its fifth straight.
Pollard's jumper sparked a 13-3 run and Dayton led for good 30-18 in the first half on Kyle Davis' jumper. Cooke scored 12 points in the half and the Flyers (7-2) scored 16 points off of turnovers and 13 on fast breaks en route to a 37-25 halftime lead
Pollard's free throw capped a 9-0 run Dayton used to open the second half and the Flyers cruised to a 61-37 lead on John Crosby's jumper with 8:29 to go. ETSU's David Burrell and Desonta Bradford each made 3s in the final 1:11 but Dayton held on.
The Flyers dominated down low, outscoring the Buccaneers 50-24 in the paint, won the rebound battle 39-33 and scored 23 points on fast breaks compared with seven for the Buccaneers.
Bradford and Burrell scored 12 apiece for ETSU (7-2), which was off to its best start since the 1990-91 squad opened at 14-1.
