Holmes’ big 2nd half helps No. 21 Dayton beat St. Bonaventure

DAYTON — The No. 21 Dayton Flyers got a big night from DaRon Holmes II as they beat the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, 76-71, Friday at the UD Arena.

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He matched his career high with 34 points, including 25 in the second half, and fouled out two Bonnies’ players.

Holmes shot 10-15 from the field, as well as 13-17 from the free throw line.

UD overcame a slow start offensively as they shot 37% from the field in the first half but made 60% of their shots in the second half.

The Flyers improved 18-3 overall (8-1 in the Atlantic 10).

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Dayton jumped out to a 13-4 lead as Enoch Cheeks scored seven points. But the Bonnies stayed closed on a Barry Evans steal and dunk to cut the lead to 19-17 with 6:03 remaining in the first half.

Charles Pride’s layup gave St. Bonaventure its first lead of the game, 25-24, with 2:47 left until halftime.

The Bonnies had the ball to close the half and Mika Adams-Woods’ basket at the buzzer gave them a 30-28 halftime advantage.

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St. Bonaventure extended their lead to seven points, 38-31, with 17:22 left, but Holmes scored five of UD’s next seven points to tie the game at 38-38.

The game stayed close throughout the second half the score was tied at 54-54 with 7:24 to go. Holmes made three straight free throws to put the Flyers ahead, 57-54.

Daryl Banks III turned it over coming out of a Bonnies’ timeout and Koby Brea’s trey extended it 60-54 at the 5:25 mark.

Holmes scored eight straight points to give Dayton its biggest lead of the night, 68-58, with 1:58 remaining. During that stretch, he drew the fifth foul on both Noel Brown and Chad Venning.

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St. Bonaventure made back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 68-64 with just over a minute left. Javon Bennett and Nate Santos each made two free throws to increase it to 72-64 with 33 seconds to go.

The Bonnies scored five straight points to cut it 72-69 with 21 seconds left. Holmes made two free throws to stretch it to 74-69. He blocked Adams-Woods’ three and sealed the game for Dayton with a dunk.

Cheeks added 13 points as Isaac Jack added eight points and six rebounds. Koby Brea scored seven points while Javon Bennett had six.

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The Flyers will have two road games next week. They play at Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. in Philadelphia. They will then travel to Richmond, VA on Feb. 9 to play at VCU at 7 p.m.

Pre-game coverage Tuesday night begins on WHIO Radio at 7 p.m. when Dayton battles Saint Joseph’s. The game will also be carried here at WHIO.com.

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