Holmes leads No. 21 Dayton past Saint Louis for 11th straight victory

Here’s a a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (14-2, 4-0) won its 11th straight game. That’s the fourth longest active winning streak in the country and Dayton’s longest since a 20-game streak in the 2019-20 season.

Dayton remains tied for first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with Richmond (12-5, 4-0), which won 63-61 at Duquesne on Tuesday.

Saint Louis lost its 10 straight game at UD Arena. It has not won in Dayton since 2014.

Star of the game: Holmes followed up his season-best 33-point performance in a 72-62 victory Friday at Duquesne by making 9 of 13 field goals and 10 of 17 free throws. He scored 16 points in the last six minutes.

Stat of the game: Dayton outscored Saint Louis 16-3 at the free-throw line.

Turning point: Dayton trailed 34-33 at the 17:23 mark. A dunk by Holmes put Dayton on top on its next possession, and it led the rest of the way. Saint Louis hung around by making four 3-pointers in the final five minutes, including one at the buzzer.

Big run: Dayton led 50-47 when a free throw by Enoch Cheeks began an 8-0 run. Holmes scored the last seven points in that run.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Rhode Island (9-7, 3-0) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. It will be the first game former Dayton coach Archie Miller has coached at UD Arena since his final season with the Flyers in 2017.

Rhode Island beat Saint Joseph’s, Davidson and Massachusetts to start A-10 play. It plays at St. Bonaventure (10-5, 1-2) on Wednesday.

Dayton lost 75-70 at Rhode Island last season. In its last visit to UD Arena, Rhode Island lost 53-51 in 2022.

HALFTIME RECAP

The Flyers trailed for the first time this season in Atlantic 10 Conference play and faced their first halftime deficit since their last non-conference game. The Billikens took control with a 14-0 run and built a 30-28 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Dayton guard Enoch Cheeks led all scorers with eight points. He made 2 of 5 3-pointers.

Sincere Parker and Terrance Hargrove each made 3 of 5 shots for Saint Louis and scored seven points.

Key stat: Dayton shot 27.8% from 3-point range (5 of 18), while Saint Louis shot 27.3% (3 of 11).

Turning point: Dayton led 17-9 after a free throw at the 10:58 mark by DaRon Holmes. In the next seven minutes, Dayton had one made field goal, a 3-pointer by Javon Bennett. It missed six straight shots and committed two turnovers in that stretch as Saint Louis built a 23-17 lead.

Big shots: Kobe Elvis scored five straight points to put Dayton back on top, 26-25 at the 1:41 mark, but Saint Louis answered with five straight points. Nate Santos cut the Saint Louis lead to one point with a layup in the final minute.

Roster news: Petras Padegimas was at the game but not in uniform. He’s recovering from an illness and has missed four straight games.