No. 16 Dayton ends game on big run to beat Duquesne

DAYTON — The No. 16 Dayton Flyers went on a big scoring run in the last six-and-half minutes to beat the Duquesne Dukes, 75-59, Tuesday night at the UD Arena.

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UD trailed 57-53 after Jimmy Clark III’s layup with 6:39 remaining. But Nate Santos and DaRon Holmes II made five of six free throws to put the Flyers ahead for good, 58-57, with 5:28 remaining, and never trailed again.

Holmes led Dayton with 24 points and 11 rebounds while Nate Santos added 15. Koby Brea buried four three-pointers to finish with 12 points and Enoch Cheeks scored 10.

UD improved to 20-4 overall (10-2 in the Atlantic 10) and swept the season series with Duquesne.

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The Dukes scored the first five points of the game and led by as much as 11 points, 20-9, with 10:32 left in the first when UD coach Anthony Grant called a timeout.

The Flyers countered by going on a 15-4 run to tie the game at 24-24 with 5:08 to go until halftime.

Dayton led 36-31 with seconds left in the half, but Clark’s layup at the buzzer cut the lead to 36-33 at the break.

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Santos’ trey put UD ahead, 43-37, with 16:10 to play. But Dae Dae Grant scored nine straight points for Duquesne to get them within a point, 51-50.

Hassan Drame’s three and Clark’s layup put the Dukes ahead, 57-53, with 6:39 left.

Santos and Holmes made five of six free throws to reclaim the lead for good, 58-57.

Cheeks came up with back-to-back steals and drew fouls on Duquesne. He made four free throws to extend the advantage to 62-57.

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Drame missed a three-point attempt and Holmes’ layup broke a long field goal drought for Dayton to stretch it to 64-57 with 4:18 to go.

Brea’s three-pointer as the shot clock expired increased the lead to 67-57 and the scoring run was at 14-0.

Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot was called for a technical foul at the 3:00 media timeout and Kobe Elvis made one of two foul shots to extend it to 68-57.

Holmes scored to increase it to 70-57 and Brea’s trey stretched it further to 73-57.

Elvis capped a run of 22 straight Flyer points with a layup with 15 seconds to play.

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Dayton’s next game will be Saturday afternoon when they host Fordham at the UD Arena at 1:30 p.m.

It will also be UD’s Hall of Fame Game. Four new members will be inducted into the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame.

Volleyball player Lindsay Fletemier, quarterback Kevin Hoyng, administrator Ken Keck, and pitch Luke Trubee will each be recognized at halftime.

Pre-game coverage on WHIO Radio begins at 12:30 p.m. The game will also carried here at WHIO.com.

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