Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports
DaRon Holmes II tallied game highs of 29 points and 14 rebounds to help lead No. 21 Dayton to a 70-65 victory over visiting Saint Louis on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.
Enoch Cheeks added nine points and nine rebounds for the Flyers (14-2, 4-0 Atlantic 10), who have won 11 straight games. Koby Brea chipped in nine points off the bench on 3-for-7 shooting from 3-point range.
Gibson Jimerson paced Saint Louis (8-9, 1-3) with 13 points, followed by 12 points from Terrence Hargrove Jr. Bradley Ezewiro added 10 points for the Billikens, who have dropped four of their last five games.
After facing a two-point halftime deficit — its first time trailing in conference play this season — Dayton opened the second half on a 19-9 run, which was capped with a Brea triple to give the Flyers a 47-38 lead with 12:17 remaining.
A tip-in layup from Saint Louis center Bruce Zhang punctuated a 6-0 Billiken run, cutting the deficit to three points, 50-47, at the 7:05 mark.
Holmes II then took the game over, scoring seven points as part of an 8-0 Flyers scoring run, giving Dayton a 58-47 lead with 5:06 left.
A Jimerson corner 3-pointer cut the Saint Louis deficit to six points with 2:29 left before Holmes II knocked down a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession.
Another Jimerson triple was followed by a Brea 3-pointer to give Dayton an eight-point lead with 43 seconds to play, putting the game away.
In the first half, Dayton jumped out to a 17-9 lead before going scoreless for five-plus minutes while allowing a 14-0 Saint Louis run.
With Dayton trailing by four points with 30 seconds left in the first half, Nate Santos threw in a running floater to trim the Billiken lead to two and set the halftime score at 30-28.
Sincere Parker and Hargrove paced Saint Louis’ first-half scoring with seven points apiece while Dayton was led by Cheeks’ eight points.
Saint Louis’ hasn’t won at UD Arena since January 2014.
–Field Level Media