Jones' effort pushes Rhody past Dayton

Jones' effort pushes Rhody past Dayton

A steady contributor all season, Marquis Jones went above and beyond Wednesday.

Jones scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and also dished out five assists as Rhode Island earned a hard-fought, 67-53 win over conference-rival Dayton at the Ryan Center.

The Rams (15-9, 6-4 Atlantic 10) erased a seven-point halftime deficit and withstood a 21-0 first-half run by the Flyers as they continued their stretch of alternating wins and losses for the seventh consecutive game. Rhode Island lost at Temple on Saturday.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

With Jones controlling the tempo, the Rams opened the second half on a 14-2 run and added another 8-1 run later in the half to expand their lead to eight points. Rhode Island outscored Dayton, 45-24, in the second half and led by as many as 19 points down the stretch.

Delroy James chipped in with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Rams and Nikola Malesevic added 14 points. Paul Williams led Dayton (17-8, 5-5 A-10) with 12 point.

Rhode Island returns to action Saturday in search of its first winning streak since Jan. 16 and 19 when it host Charlotte at 2 p.m.