Duquesne’s forward momentum has hit the pause button.

With an eye toward one of four coveted double-byes in the fast-approaching Atlantic 10 Tournament, the Dukes stumbled on Saturday at Dayton and returned home following a 78-66 loss to the Flyers at UD Arena, halting their five-game winning streak.

Duquesne (16-11, 8-6), with four regular-season games remaining, fell out of a three-way tie for the fourth and final double-bye spot, a game behind Dayton, George Mason and Saint Joseph’s, a 75-61 winner over Loyola Chicago.

Amael L’Etang’s 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists led Dayton (18-9, 9-5), which steadily pulled away from a 42-39 halftime lead after going in front for good with 1 minute, 38 seconds left in the first half.

Dayton shot 44% and made 8 of 21 3-points shots and was 24 for 32 from the free-throw line.

“When the game starts to be controlled at the foul line, it chops up the game,” Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III told reporters at UD Arena. “Ultimately, you’re not getting stops.”

Duquesne managed 18 of 24 free throws. The Dukes shot 38% overall and were an efficient 8 for 19 (42%) from 3-point range.

“It’s not like they were going 0 for 2 from the line,” Joyce said. “I think maybe they only missed one front end of one-and-ones. For the most part, they did a solid job of at least making one of those free throws. It slows the game down and allows them to get into their press, which is where they would like to play. It makes things challenging.”

After Duquesne cut the margin to 42-41 early in the second half, Dayton stretched its lead to double digits for the first time on a Jordan Derkack layup with 11:49 remaining.

The Flyers, who won for the fourth consecutive time and fifth time in six games, led by as many as 16 points (69-53) with 5:23 to go and was never again threatened.

Five Duquesne players dodged foul trouble — 6-foot-9 David Dixon finished with four.

“We have to do a better job of defending without fouling,” Joyce said. “We got ourselves in some bad situations. We were late in rotations and it cost us.”

Javon Bennett added 14 points and Keonte Jones scored 13 for Dayton, which completed a season sweep of Duquesne.

The Flyers, playing in the first meeting without L’Etang, who was injured, defeated the Dukes, 71-65, on Jan. 13 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Tarence Guinyard, whose last-second basket was the game-winning shot Wednesday in a victory against La Salle, led Duquesne with 16 points, 14 in the first half. Jimmie Williams added 10 for the Dukes, who will host Davidson on Wednesday.

The Dukes defeated the Wildcats, 89-83 in double overtime, on Dec. 30 for their first A-10 victory.

Joyce said they’ll flush this latest result and look ahead with an eye toward getting back to the win column.

“Can we guard it better? Absolutely,” Joyce said. “We did a decent job of guarding. But turnovers, offensive rebounds, those things keep us on defense longer and then ultimately just being late and allowing them to get to the free-throw line hurt us.”

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