DAYTON, Ohio – In what has to be described as one of the biggest Eastern Kentucky basketball wins in recent memory, the Colonels stunned the Dayton Flyers 73-66 in front of 12,254 fans.

The Colonels dealt the Flyers a loss in their home opener for the first time since 2001.

After Dayton jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the early going, the Colonels got hot and seemed to stay that way for the remainder of the opening half.

Julian Mascoll scored on a tip-in with 12:28 remaining to put the Colonels up 22-17, starting an 8-0 run that had Eastern up 13 with 7:47 left.

The Colonels would lead by as many as 14 in the opening frame, but settled for an 11-point advantage at the intermission.

EKU would build the lead to 16 on two occasions in the second half, the last coming after a Michael Haney jumper with 17:18 left.

The Flyers clawed their way back into the game, slicing the lead to eight at 52-44 behind a Jimmy Binnie three-pointer at the 9:24 mark, but it would prove to be the closest Dayton would come in the game until cutting the lead to seven with 15 seconds remaining and the game all but in hand for the Colonels.

The Colonels made 11 of 14 foul shots within the last four minutes to seal the game to secure the win.

Head Coach Travis Ford said, "It's a big win for our program. It's a great tribute to this basketball team. We've practiced hard, so that the games seem easier and it paid off today. I told our guys to enjoy it and we'll move on tomorrow. It's a very big win for our program to beat another very good program on their home floor."

Haney led the Colonels with 20 points and eight rebounds. Matt Witt, playing in front of a large contingency of family and friends, scored 17 points and dished out five assists. Zach Ingles added 14 points, and Jason McLeish contributed 13 for the Colonels.

Monty Scott scored 14 points to pace Dayton and was one of only two Flyers in double figures.

The Colonels will open the home portion of the season on Tuesday night with a 7:30 tip-off against Webster.