Box Score |  Photo Gallery (Erik Schelkun) 

DAYTON, Ohio - Junior Nathan Dieudonne earned his third career double-double and sophomore Cedric Hankerson tallied a game-high 25 points, as the Boston University men's basketball team dropped a 78-62 decision at Dayton Saturday night in front of 12,326 fans.

Coming off an appearance in the Elite Eight of the 2014 NCAA tournament, the Flyers (8-2) led by five with 6:57 remaining and finished the game on a 14-3 run to defeat the Terriers (3-7).

Dieudonne went 6-of-11 from the field to finish with 16 points while adding a game-high 11 rebounds. Hankerson also shot above 50 percent with an 8-of-13 performance, including four 3-pointers on eight attempts. The Terriers though could not overcome 18 turnovers and Dayton's hot-shooting in 3-point territory.

The Flyers entered the contest averaging just 4.7 made 3-pointers per game on 27.9 percent shooting. On Saturday, they hit a season-high 11 treys on 23 attempts (.478) to finish the game 26-of-50 (.520) from the field. Darrell Davis hit all five of his 3-point attempts to end the game with 19 points. Kendall Pollard added 19 points and eight boards, while Scoochie Smith contributed 10 points and eight assists. Jordan Sibert was the fourth Flyer in double figures at 11 points.

After junior Justin Alston opened the contest with a short jumper near the sideline, the Terriers grabbed their final lead (7-5) at 17:15 on freshman Cheddi Mosely's 3-pointer. Smith followed with a 3-pointer to ignite a 7-0 spurt and give Dayton the lead for good.

Ahead 17-15 at 8:42, the Flyers drained three consecutive treys during a 12-2 run over the following three minutes to grab their first of three 12-point advantages in the first half. The Terriers though kept the game close behind Hankerson and freshman Eric Johnson's 3-point bombs. Sophomore Blaise Mbargorba hit his two free throws in the final minute, as Dayton entered the locker room ahead, 39-32.

The second half was a mirror of the first with both teams going on runs. However, BU could just never get over the hump and grab the lead back. Hankerson cut the deficit to three (41-38) at 17:59 with a successful drive to the hoop, but Davis hit a 3-pointer at 16:03 (49-39) and 13:12 (57-45) to give Dayton double-digit leads.

Following that second trey, Hankerson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull BU back within six (57-51) at 11:58. Dieudonne then hit two free throws and answered a Dayton layup with a slam dunk off a nice feed from Alston to put the deficit at four (59-55) with 10:27 remaining.

BU would never get closer, as Bobby Wherli drained his lone 3-pointer of the contest on the ensuing possession. The Terriers missed back-to-back 3-point attempts but still managed to remain within striking distance. Down 64-55, Hankerson drained two free throws, and Alston converted on a layup at 6:57 following a Dayton turnover.

Alston's layup would be the final BU made field goal until sophomore Eric Fanning's jumper at the 57-second mark. At one point during the final stretch, the Flyers nailed six consecutive free throw attempts to improve to 2-0 all-time against BU following the 74-60 win in 2009.  

The Terriers ended the contest 21-of-42 (.500) but went 13-of-21 (.619) at the line while being outscored in the paint (26-18), off turnovers (16-12), off second-chance points (11-3) and in bench production (31-9).  

BU will return to action on Monday, Dec. 29 at Case Gym against Wentworth in the final non-conference game of the regular season. The first-ever tip-off between the two Boston schools is set for 7 p.m.