Sports Today: Dayton Flyers find something to build on

Dayton downed Davidson on Tuesday night in what truly was a game of runs.

The Flyers looked like they might run away and hide a couple of times, including with a 12-0 run to open the game, but the Wildcats never went away.

GAME STORY: Dayton outlasts Davidson at the arena

All the better: It let Jalen Crutcher play the hero. His 3-pointer gave Dayton the lead for good with just under a minute to go.

Where would Dayton be without him?

"Jalen is one of those players," Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. "Just watching him in high school, he wants to take those shots. He's a very confident kid in terms of his belief in his ability to make shots at crucial times. I think we had a play on where we felt like we could get Josh a look inside, and we had (Jordan Davis) in the corner. The ball got swung to him, and there was maybe two seconds on the shot clock. Great extra pass. He was open. He got a great look at it. We're thankful it went in."

Grant also called the game a step in the right direction, which seems pretty accurate.

Davidson has won five in a row. Dayton snapped a two-game losing streak.

However this season turns out, finding out what freshmen Crutcher and Jordan Davis can do is certainly valuable for the future…

In related news, former Dayton guard Kyle Davis is getting another shot in the NBA's developmental league.

The Rio Grande Vipers acquired Davis this week. He took part in their training camp last fall.

The Vipers are the NBA G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets, and their roster also includes R.J. Hunter, whose father, Ron, was a start at Chaminade Julienne High School and Miami University…

On the high school scene, Jack Hendricks and Kellan Bochenek had 20 points apiece as Fairmont won the basketball Battle of Kettering easily over Alter 62-43, and Butler won a thriller over Xenia in overtime.

Springfield stayed undefeated by beating Belmont 65-53, and Andre Gordon scored 40 points for Sidney as the Yellow Jackets topped Stebbins 68-60.

SEE MORE scores here...

Another area high school has found a new football coach with Lebanon hiring Matthew Hopkins.

He comes from Preble-Shawnee, where he is a graduate and was the head coach.

Last year was not a great one for first-year coaches in the area (with some exceptions), but perhaps Hopkins can help start a trend in the other direction…

Speaking of football, Ohio State reclaimed the No. 1 spot in 247Sports' composite 2018 recruiting rankings this week without doing anything.

That’s thanks to Rivals, which released its final evaluations.

Fairfield offensive tackle Jackson Carman finished as the top-rated player in Ohio according to Rivals, checking in at No. 16 nationally.

Wayne receiver Blue Smith is 39th, Lakota West linebacker Xavier Peters is No. 75, Dunbar receiver Joseph Scates is No. 136 and Dunbar running back Tavion Thomas is No. 239 to round out the area's representation in the final Rivals250 for 2018.

Luke Fickell’s Cincinnati class is 47th in the composite rankings (No. 1 in the AAC).

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