CHARLESTON, S.C. – Josh Cunningham and Darrell Davis combined for 43 points to lead Dayton to a 79-65 victory against Ohio in a consolation round game in the Charleston Classic on Friday evening at TD Arena.

The short-handed and undersized Bobcats again had trouble defending the post, with the 6-7 Cunningham scoring 18 points and grabbing 19 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. Davis, a 6-5 guard, had 25 points.

The Fliers (2-1) got separation late in the first half with an 8-0 run and held a lead of around 10 points the rest of the way.

Gavin Block’s 3-pointer at the 5:58 mark in the first half cut Dayton’s advantage to 28-27, but Cunningham and Davis followed with consecutive 3s of their own, and Xeyrius Williams followed with a layup to make it 36-27. Dayton maintained a nine-point edge, 41-32, at the break.

Jordan Dartis paced the Bobcats (1-2) with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Gavin Block had a second straight strong showing with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Freshman point guard Teyvion Kirk had 12 points and five rebounds, but only two assists and seven turnovers.

Ohio got as close as 43-37 early in the second half on a Doug Taylor dunk, and after a Cunningham three-point play, Taylor knocked down a short jumper. But Dayton stretched the lead to double-digits with consecutive jumpers for five points by Jordan Davis, making it 51-39.

From there, the Fliers’ advantage stayed between nine and 12 points until Williams made it 67-53 on a jumper with 7:09 remaining. The Bobcats got it back down to nine on a Block 3-pointer at the 5:19 mark but did not score again until 1:23 left in the game.

Williams, Dayton’s other starting forward alongside Cunningham, had 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, despite going 1 of 9 on 3-pointers. Jordan Davis finished with 10 points.

The Fliers held a 40-30 rebounding advantage that included an 11-6 edge in offensive boards. The Bobcats committed more turnovers, 13-12.

A positive for Ohio was Taylor’s improved play. After going scoreless in the first game of the tournament, he had eight points and five rebounds Friday.

But forward Kevin Mickle had only two points and two rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench against Dayton. Freshman backup point guard Zach Butler struggled for the second game in a row and played only four minutes, committing two fouls with one turnover. Senior guard Mike Laster was just 3-of-9 shooting for six points.

Ohio closes out play in the Charleston Classic against Indiana State at 1 p.m. Sunday.