DAYTON, Ohio – Saint Louis fell 70-65 at No. 21 Dayton on Tuesday night in Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball action at UD Arena.
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SLU fell to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in league play. Dayton (14-2) won its 11th in a row and kept pace with Richmond for first place in the A-10 with a 4-0 A-10 mark. The Flyers also extended their winning streak to 10 against the Bills at UD Arena.
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Gibson Jimerson (team-high 13 points),
Terrence Hargrove Jr. (12) and
Bradley Ezewiro (10) all scored in double figures for the Billikens. Ezewiro added a team-high seven rebounds.
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Michael Meadows Jr. posted a season-high eight assists to just one turnover.
Sincere Parker played his most substantial minutes since breaking his foot on Nov. 16, scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds.
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The back-and-forth battle featured six lead changes and two ties. Saint Louis utilized a 14-0 run in the first half and built a six-point lead at one point in the opening half of play. The Billikens led by two, 30-28, at halftime.
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Behind All-American candidate DaRon Holmes II, Dayton rallied in the second half to grab the lead several minutes in, and it didn't trail again. Holmes finished with a game-high 29 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked four shots.
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The resilient Billikens came back from several deficits and was in it until the final minutes of play. Dayton tried stretching a double-digit lead, but SLU would always have an answer. The Flyers were up by 10 with less than four minutes to go, but SLU cut it to five late with a Jimerson trey. Kobe Brea's 3-pointer in the final minute put Dayton up by eight, and the Flyers hung on for the victory.
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The Billikens are back in action Friday night when they travel to Richmond, Va., to take on VCU. Game time on ESPN2 is 6 p.m. (CT).
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