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DAYTON, Ohio – The Wofford College men’s basketball team opened the season with a hard-fought 52-49 loss at Dayton on Sunday night. The game was tied at 44-44 with under four minutes to play and was close until the final buzzer.

Wofford is 0-1 overall and Dayton is 1-0 on the season. The Terriers were led by Junior Salters with 15 points, all on three-pointers. Tim Johnson had eleven points and 13 rebounds for his second career double-double. Dayton was led by Chris Wright and Marcus Johnson who each had 17 points. The Terriers held a 35-25 edge on the glass.

The Flyers scored first with a three by Chris Wright, but Wofford answered with a three by Junior Salters. Another three by Salters gave the Terriers an 8-5 lead at 14:28. Dayton tied the game at 10-10. Wofford then went on a 6-0 run, which included a three pointer by Jason Dawson for a 16-10 lead at 9:27.

Another three pointer by Jason Dawson gave Wofford an eight point lead at 19-11, the largest lead of the night for the Terriers with 8:49 left in the first half. The Flyers were able to chip away at the lead and took a 25-24 lead on a three by Marcus Johnson with 3:00 on the clock.

At the half, the Flyers had a 27-26 lead after a shot by Chris Wright with three seconds left. There were four lead changes and four ties in the first twenty minutes.

To start the second half, Marcus Johnson hit a jumper but the Terriers answered with a three by Junior Salters to tie the game at 29-29. The Flyers pushed the lead to five points at 15:31, but Wofford stayed in the game and at 7:27 regained the lead after a three by Corey Godzinski at 41-40.

With the game tied at 44-44, the Flyers scored the next four points. Wofford pulled to 48-46 with 1:19 left in the game on a lay-up by Tim Johnson. A basket by Rob Lowery gave the Flyers a four-point lead with 48 seconds on the clock. After a free throw to increase the lead to five points, Noah Dahlman scored with a second on the clock for the 52-49 final score.

Wofford shot 39.1% from the floor and 31.9% from three. The Terriers were only 40.0% from the line. The Flyers were 41.3% from the floor and 35.3% from behind the arc and 57.1% from the free throw line. Wofford won the rebound battle 35-25, but 23 turnovers were too much to overcome for the Terriers.

Wofford will face Clemson on Wednesday, November 19 at Littlejohn Coliseum at 7:30 pm. Following games in Colorado Springs against UT Pan American and Air Force, the Terriers will open the home slate on November 25 against UNC Asheville.