DAYTON, Ohio – SIUE men's basketball dropped its season opener Monday, falling 63-47 in front of a crowd of 13,407 at Dayton.

"I am proud of the way our guys came in and competed against a really quality program," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said.

Dayton turned the tide with a late run in the first half. The Cougars built an eight-point advantage with a 5-0 run capped by a running layup by Ray'Sean Taylor to make it 24-16 with 3:38 to play. The Flyers answered with an 11-0 run of their own and led 27-24 at halftime.

"We had five turnovers in the last three or four minutes of the half and we took some questionable shots," Barone said. "We got away from what we need to do to have success this year."

SIUE started the second half strong and led 33-32 after a three-pointer from Ray'Sean Taylor with 15:20 to play. Dayton scored the next five and never trailed again.

"I'm obviously disappointed in the loss, but not in the fight in this team," Barone added. "Now we can go back to work and figure out what we need to do. We have a benchmark of what it is going to take from all 14 guys."

SIUE connected on 32 percent (16-50) of its shots for the game. The Cougars were 5-12 from three-point range.

Ray'Sean Taylor led the way with 14 points. Lamar Wright scored eight points, all coming in the second half. He was 6-8 at the free throw line. Damarco Minor scored seven points and grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds. Desmond Polk scored seven points.

Dayton was 20-48 (42 percent) from the field and hit 5-23 shots from three.

Daron Holmes II led the Flyers with 19 points. He was 11-12 from the free throw line and hit his first 11 points before he missed. Nate Santos led Dayton with 14 rebounds.

Dayton outrebounded SIUE 37-30.

The Cougars will open the home season Thursday at First Community Arena when they face North Park in the second half of a doubleheader with the SIUE women. Tip is scheduled for 7:30.

"North Park is an extremely well-coached team. That will be a tough game. We're going to treat North Park with the respect they deserve. We're going to get back to work.