No. 16 Dayton handles La Salle, extends win streak to 13

DaRon Holmes II tallied a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds to help lead visiting No. 16 Dayton to a 66-54 victory over La Salle on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Javon Bennett and Nate Santos added 13 points apiece for the Flyers (16-2, 6-0 Atlantic 10), followed by 10 points from Kobe Elvis. Dayton won its 13th straight game, its longest since a 20-game run in 2020.

Andres Marrero's 13 points paced the scoring for La Salle (10-9, 1-5), which dropped its fourth straight game. Khalil Brantley and Jhamir Brickus followed with nine points apiece for the Explorers, who made just 21 of their 59 shots (35.6 percent) from the field, compared to 27 of 57 (47.4 percent) from Dayton.

Facing a 13-point halftime deficit, La Salle opened the second half on a 19-9 run, cutting the Dayton lead to 45-42 with 9:28 remaining.

Bennett responded with a triple for Dayton, which was then matched by Brickus' 3-pointer.

Dayton then went on a 12-5 scoring run, which included two more Bennett 3-pointers, giving the Flyers a 60-50 lead at the 3:33 mark.

Neither team connected on a field goal until Santos' putback layup that gave Dayton a 62-51 lead with 1:04 left. Marrero responded with a 3-pointer for La Salle, but a pair of free throws by Bennett and a dunk by Santos cemented the Dayton's victory.

In the first half, La Salle jumped out to a 7-6 lead on Brickus' jump shot at the 15:23 mark. Holmes took the lead back for Dayton on the ensuing possession by knocking down a 3-pointer.

Leading 20-17 with 7:15 left in the first half, the Flyers finished on a 16-6 run. Elvis' layup with 12 seconds left matched Dayton's largest first-half lead at 13 points, giving them a 36-23 advantage at the break.

Holmes paced the Flyers first-half scoring with 16 points, followed by 10 points from Elvis. Brantley led the Explorers with seven points in the first half.