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
Saint Louis | Dayton | |
Gibson Jimerson 13 | Scoring | DaRon Holmes II 29 |
Michael Meadows 8 | Assists | Kobe Elvis 3 |
Bradley Ezewiro 7 | Rebounds | DaRon Holmes II 14 |
Tim Dalger 3 | Free Throws Made | DaRon Holmes II 10 |
Gibson Jimerson 2 | Steals | DaRon Holmes II 2 |
Sincere Parker 1 | Blocks | DaRon Holmes II 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Saint Louis | 65 | 40.9 | 8-23 | 3-7 | 15 | 36 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
Dayton | 70 | 42.6 | 8-28 | 16-29 | 12 | 40 | 6 | 6 | 8 |