Dayton rallies from 17-point deficit to beat VCU in overtime

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (24-6, 14-4) completed a 15-0 season at UD Arena with its 13th straight victory on Senior Night. The Flyers also beat VCU (19-12, 11-7) at UD Arena for the first time since 2020.

The loss drops VCU to a tie for fourth place with Massachusetts. It will now have to win four games in the A-10 tournament to win a NCAA tournament bid. Massachusetts gets the fourth double-bye and a game in the quarterfinals because of a victory against VCU.

Star of the game: DaRon Holmes II led Dayton with 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He made 11 of 14 free throws. He alos had 10 rebounds.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 12 of 22 3-pointers (54.5%), while VCU made 18 of 42 (42.9%).

Big shots: Kobe Elvis made back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime. The first tied the game at 80-80. The second gave Dayton an 83-80 lead with 43 seconds to play. Elvis scored 15 points, making 3 of 6 3-pointers.

Turning point: Dayton trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half and by as many as eight early in the second half. It slowly chipped away and took its first lead on a 3-pointer by Nate Santos at the 5:43 mark. Santos scored 21 points and made 3 of 4 3-pointers.

Looking ahead: No. 3 seed Dayton will play in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The complete bracket will be announced Saturday night.

If Dayton wins Thursday, it will play a semifinal game at 3:30 p.m. on March 16. The A-10 championship game will take place at 1 p.m. on March 17.

FIRST-HALF RECAP

Dayton chipped away at an early 17-point deficit and trailed Virginia Commonwealth 38-31 at halftime.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Dayton’s Nate Santos led all scorers with 17 points. He made 6 of 8 field goals, including 3 of 4 3-pointers.

Zeb Jackson led VCU with 12 points. He made 5 of 11 shots, including 2 of 7 3-pointers.

Key stat: Dayton had nine turnovers to VCU’s four. VCU had 17 points off Dayton turnovers.

Big run: VCU outscored Dayton 16-2 in a six-minute stretch, turning a 10-7 lead into a 26-9 advantage with 10 minutes to play in the half. Jackson started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers.

Comeback: Dayton outscored VCU 22-12 in the last nine minutes. The Flyers got as close as five points, 36-31, on a basket by Santos in the final minute. Kuany Kuany made two free throws on VCU’s last possession to give the Rams a 38-31 lead.

Strong defense: VCU limited Dayton star DaRon Holmes to eight points on 1-of-5 shooting. He made 6 of 8 free throws.

Injury news: Dayton played without point guard Javon Bennett, who injured his thumb in the game at Loyola Chicago for the second straight game. Koby Brea took his place in the starting lineup in the 100-83 victory at Saint Louis on Tuesday and again on Friday.

Two players who did not play for VCU on Tuesday in a 69-59 loss to Duquesne and Richmond were available for the Rams: leading scorer Max Shulga; and guard Fats Billups II. Shulga had six points in 17 minutes in the first half.