ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis mounted a furious second-half comeback but came up short against Dayton Friday night, falling 71-63 to the Flyers in front of 9,819 fans at Chaifetz Arena.
 
The Billikens slipped to 13-9 overall and 6-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Dayton improved to 15-7, 5-4 with its fourth victory in five games.
 
Gibson Jimerson scored a game-high 21 points, followed by Isaiah Swope with 15 and Dylan Warlick with a career-high 10. Robbie Avila grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, and Kalu Anya posted a career- and game-high four blocks. Swope matched his season high with a game-high-tying three steals.
 
Dayton increased its 12-point halftime lead to 14 twice, the second time a 54-40 advantage at the 12:01 mark. That's when Saint Louis caught fire, getting seven points from Jimerson and five from Swope in a 12-0 outburst that trimmed the Dayton lead to 54-52 with 7:04 remaining.
 
After the Flyers ended their long scoring drought with five straight points, Swope connected from 3-point range to whittle the gap to four, 59-55, with 4:42 left.
 
Dayton answered with a trey of its own, and the margin floated between five and eight points the rest of the way. Warlick's bucket with 32 seconds left made it 68-63, but three free throws secured the win for the visitors.
 
The Flyers used a 29-9 first-half flurry, including six 3-pointers, to turn an 8-5 deficit into a 34-17 cushion with 4:50 to play in the first half. The Billikens tallied eight of the final 11 points in the period, and the Dayton lead was 37-25 at the break.
 
The Bills travel to Massachusetts Tuesday, Feb. 4, for a 6 p.m. Central contest that will be carried on ESPN+.