Dec 30, 2017 3 min read

Rene Castro-Caneddy scored 21 points, Eric Williams Jr. added 15 and Duquesne closed with a 10-1 run to open Atlantic-10 play with a 70-62 win over Dayton Saturday.

The Flyers erased a seven-point deficit with a 7-0 run midway through the second half and pulled within one on a jumper by Josh Cunningham with 5:33 remaining. Jalen Crutcher followed with two free throws to put the Flyers ahead 61-60 at 4:46. After that Dayton missed its final seven shots and made one free throw.

Duquesne (10-4), which matched last season’s win total, regained the lead on a dunk by Chas Brown and Williams followed with a basket and four free throws.

The Dukes are 9-1 when holding opponents under 70 points and Dayton is 0-7 when scoring less than 70.

Castro-Caneddy had the first four of eight straight points for Duquesne that turned into a 13-2 run to close the half for a 38-24 lead. A jumper by Darrell Davis gave the Flyers a seven-point lead with 4:23 before the break but they made just 1 of 6 before the break.

Davis led Dayton, which shot 29 percent, with 19 points and Cunningham had 14 with 13 rebounds.

Penn State 88, Coppin State 43: Coach Pat Chambers wasn’t going to let himself or his players be deceived by Coppin State’s winless record.

Penn State’s coach had seen the Eagles keep within striking distance for much of their game against UConn and watched as they pushed Georgia Tech for 30 minutes more recently.

Penn State’s most recent loss at the buzzer to Rider was fresh in Chambers’ mind, too. His players had purposefully wiped it from theirs.

“Once I left the (Bryce Jordan Center), that game was over,” Penn State guard Tony Carr said. “I went home, spent time with my family and basketball was the last thing on my mind.”

The mental reset appears to have worked.

Carr scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half and Penn State routed Coppin State 88-43.

Josh Reaves scored 12 points with seven assists and Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens chipped in 11 points apiece for the Nittany Lions (11-4).

Cedric Council Jr. led Coppin State (0-15) with 11 points. Tre’ Thomas added nine for the Eagles, who have lost 19 of 20 dating to last season.

“It’s hard to find anything positive that happened today,” Coppin State coach Juan Dixon said. “You’ve got to have fun. It’s like pulling teeth to try to get these guys to have a good time. As the head coach, I’m loose and I have fun with the guys. I just want these guys to play with more positive energy and support one another.”

The young Eagles have a lot of room to improve but will struggle to do so with top shooter Lamar Morgan struggling and a lengthy injury list that includes talented guards Dejuan Clayton and Taqwain Drummond still out of the lineup.