Dayton overtakes La Salle 61-50
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Dyshawn Pierre scored 16 points, hauled in 14 rebounds and led Dayton to its seventh straight victory with a 61-50 win over La Salle on Wednesday night.
He got help from Scoochie Smith, who was scoreless in the first half but came on strong after the break, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and finishing 6 of 7 from the floor for 16 points as well.
Trailing by two at intermission, Dayton (14-2, 4-0 Atlantic 10) retook the lead 33-31 with Pierre's dunk and later broke away with a 10-0 burst ignited by back-to-back buckets from Smith to make it 54-42 with 5:18 left.
Dayton shot 64 percent in the second half to offset a weak opening period, finishing 23 of 48 from the floor while holding La Salle (9-8, 1-3) to its lowest point total of the season.
Steve Zack and Cleon Roberts led La Salle with 10 points apiece.