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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Senior guard Danny Brown's jumper from the left wing misfired as Dayton escaped from the Saint Louis Billikens 63-62 in overtime in the opening game of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Brown, playing his final game in a Billiken uniform, poured in a career-high 24 points to pace SLU. Brown's 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation forced the overtime session.
The Billikens scored the first points of the game on Luke Meyer's bucket to take the lead. Dayton scored four straight for its first lead of the game. The contest was tied at 7-7 before the Flyers moved out to a five-point lead. A Kevin Lisch trey brought the Billikens to 12-10, but Dayton went on a 10-3 run to build a 22-13 lead. III converted a three-point play, and a layup by Barry Eberhardt brought the Billikens to 22-18 with just over nine minutes left in the first half. After a Dayton score, Lisch scored on a drive and a short jumper by Brown trimmed the margin to 24-22. However, the Flyers closed the first half on a 10-3 run to take a 34-25 lead at the break.
Both teams struggled to score in the early part of the second half, but Dayton slowly built an 11-point lead, 41-30 with 11 minutes left in the game. The Billikens kept the Flyers from pulling away, before SLU rallied late in the second half. Dayton still held a 49-38 lead with 6:31 to play before a Meyer hoop began the Billiken comeback. Lisch sank two free throws, and after a UD score, Brown drained a trey to bring the deficit to 51-45 at the 3:28 mark. Dayton appeared to have taken control with a 54-45 lead with 2:41 remaining, but the Billikens ended regulation with a 10-1 flurry. Brown sank another trey, and a steal by Meyer led to a Liddell layup with 2:15 left. Dayton hit one free throw, but Liddell sank a tough shot in traffic as the Billikens cut the gap to 55-52. The Flyers again turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play, and Brown swished a long trey from the top of the key to tie the game 55-55 with 52 seconds left. Both teams committed turnovers, and Dayton's long 3-pointer at the end of regulation missed to force overtime.
Dayton scored to open OT, but Liddell sank another 3-pointer to put the Billikens on top 58-57. Marcus Johnson converted a trey to give the Flyers a 60-58 lead at the 3:20 mark. Neither team scored until Brown made one free throw with 1:40 to play as SLU edged to 60-59. Dayton converted one free throw to take a 61-59 lead. The Billikens worked the ball around, and Brown was fouled and got the ball to fall to tie the game 61-61 with 50.3 seconds left. His free throw pushed the Billikens on top 62-61. Dayton's Marcus Johnson scored on a mid-range jumper to put the Flyers up 63-62. The Billikens looked for the game winner, but Browns' jumper bounced off the front of the rim as the Flyers registered a pulsating win to move into the A-10 quarterfinals.
Brown hit 8-of-12 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, en route to tallying his career high to lead the Billikens. Liddell poured in 21 points as the Billikens had two players score at least 20 points in the same game since the Furman contest in mid-November. Lisch chipped in 11 points. Marcus Johnson led Dayton with 16 points. The Billikens, employing a box-and-one defense, held Dayton standout Brian Roberts to just five points on four shots.
The Billikens finish the season at 16-15, while the Flyers improve to 21-9 and will face top seed Xavier tomorrow.
