Archie Miller's Dayton Flyers are coming off of their best season in team history, an Elite 8 run that captivated the nation. Things have changed this year with the loss of Devin Oliver and a few more critical cogs, but there was plenty of talent that was still around, including big man Dyshawn Pierre and sharpshooter Jordan Sibert.

Billy Kennedy's Texas A&M Aggies, on the other hand, are a team on the rise. They have some veteran talent, such as hometown favorite guard Alex Caruso, and senior forward Kourtney Roberson, a beast in the paint. They are a big team, with multiple talented forwards, including Davonte Fizgerald and Antwan Space. They have inconsistent guard play, however, and Dayton looked to take advantage of that today in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

The 1st half was dominated by defense, as both teams commited multiple turnovers. Kourtney Roberson, however, was a jolt for the Aggies' offense, bruising the Dayton defense, and creating some great plays via the kickout. Roberson and Fitzgerald played well off of each other early, and with 7:57 left in the half, the Aggies led 15-7.

Right out of the TV Timeout, however, young Kyle Davis made two consecutive layups to jump-start the Flyers' offense. With four minutes left in the 1st, Dayton re-took the lead off of a Darrell Davis three. At the half, Dayton led by 1, 22-21 after an ugly first 20 minutes.

The strong defensive play from both teams continued in the 2nd half, at least for the first 5 minutes. Then Texas A&M hit a hot streak, consisting of 4 consecutive Alex Caruso buckets. Dayton still had the lead, however, bringing the house down with a Kendall Pollard dunk, assited by Scoochie Smith.

A&M and Dayton traded baskets for the rest of the half, as they were obviously perfectly matched. Dayton continued to attack from their backcourt, while A&M grounded and pounded inside the paint. A&M was up two with a minute to go, until Jordan Green committed a foul on Dayton's Jordan Sibert, who converted both shots. 

With a tie game with 30 seconds left in regulation, Dayton had the ball to keep for the final shot of the game. Scoochie Smith missed a jumper, but it was rebounded by center Devon Scott. Scott knocked down the final shot with 2 seconds left, winning the game for the Flyers in dramatic fashion.

A&M will take a lot of experience from this game, and we should look them down the stretch as a potential bubble team in the weak SEC. They play the College of Charleston tomorrow as a consolation game.

Dayton, however, moves up the bracket after winning in their first big matchup of the season. They take on the defending national champions, the Connecticut Huskies. The Flyers were poor under the basket today, and were outrebounded 47-26. If they are that inept tomorrow, it will be a long afternoon against Ryan Boatright's squad. We will keep you updated for both matchups.

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About the author
Ben Anderson
Hi, folks. I am Ben, a West Virginian, loud and proud. I've been the editor in chief of VAVEL USA since December of 2013, and continue to work hard and make the International Sports Newspaper the best on the internet.