Vee Sanford's tear drop came up short as he was bothered by the shot-blocking front line of Baylor. The Bears led only twice, on a free throw in the opening minute and then on the basket by Jefferson in the closing seconds.
Dayton had enjoyed a 14 point lead in the first half, but was held scoreless the final 4:55 to see that lead whittled to 5 at halftime. However, the Flyers bounced back with five quick points to take the lead back out to ten. Back and forth in went, until with 1:16 to go Gary Franklin hit a three for the Bears to cut the Dayton lead to 1.
A shot by Devon Oliver came up short, and that set the stage for Baylor's game winning possession. Jordan Sibert led Dayton in defeat with 20 points. Baylor extends the nation's longest winning streak to 11, in improving to 6-0.
The Bears will meet Syracuse in the championship game of the Maui Invitational. Dayton (5-1) faces California in the 3rd place game.
Tip-off is at 7:30 EST and can be heard on 95.7 and AM1290 NewsTalkRadio WHIO and streamed live on-line at whio.com.
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