CHARLESTON, S.C. – Nate Santos hit a three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left to complete a nine-minute, 15-point comeback to beat LSU 70-67 in the first round of the Shriners Children’s Hospitals Charleston Classic.
LSU led by as much as 15 (60-45) with 9:07 left in the game. UD went on a 19-2 spurt over the next five-and-a-half minutes behind a decidedly Dayton crowd. The Tigers regained the lead (67-64) with five straight points with 1:25 to go.
A Koby Brea three on an out of bounds play tied the game with 47 ticks left, and after LSU turned the ball over by traveling in the lane, Santos hit the biggest shot of his short Dayton career.
Santos led UD with 19 points, Javon Bennett added 16 and Brea scored 13 off the bench.
GAME RECAP
1ST Half – LSU 32, Dayton 30
· Dayton scored first in a back-and-forth half, with Nate Santos hitting a three 18 seconds into the game.
· There were 11 lead changes and five ties in the half.
· Dayton’s largest leads was four twice – 13-9 at the 12:49 mark and 23-19 with 6:01 remaining.
· LSU’s largest lead was two, both coming in the last minute (30-28 with 57 seconds to go and 32-30 at the end of the half.
· UD out-rebounded LSU 18-12
· The Flyers shot .367 (11-30) from the field, while the Tigers shot .571 (12-21), making four of their last five shots in the half.
· Javon Bennett and Nate Santos led UD with eight points apiece.
2nd Half – Dayton 70, LSU 67
· LSU scored the first eight points of the second half before two minutes were gone to take a 10-point lead (40-30).
· The Tigers pushed it out to 46-32 with 15:46, and after UD pulled to within nine (48-39) with 13:48 to go, LSU went up 15 (60-45) at the 9:07 mark.
· Dayton ended the game by outscoring LSU 25-7.
· Koby Brea (5 points) and Santos (4 points) combined to score the last nine Flyer points.
· Javon Bennett scored eight of his 16 points in a 67-second spurt in the comeback that drew the Flyers to within one (62-61 with 5:02 to go).
BY THE NUMBERS
· 19 – Nate Santos’ 19 points were a college career high. He was 6-of-9 FG, 3-6 3-pt. and grabbed nine rebounds. He also led Dayton with three steals.
· +18 – Koby Brea was +18 for the game. He scored 13 points in 25 minutes off the bench.
· 10 – Enoch Cheeks had a game-high 10 rebounds, matching his college career best.
· 5 – Kobe Elvis handed out a game-high five assists.
· 3 – Dayton had three second-half turnovers, after coughing it up eight times in the first half. The Flyers forced eight of LSU’s 15 turnovers in the second half.
· 18 – UD outscored LSU 18-7 in points off turnovers.
· 35 – Dayton outrebounded the taller Tigers 35-28, including holding a 14-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
· 10 – The Flyers won the second-chance points stat 10-4.
· 8 – UD had eight fast-break points, compared to two for LSU.
· 1,000+ — More than 1,000 full-throated Flyer fans were a part of the 3,879 fans attending the doubleheader.
UP NEXT
· Dayton will play St. John’s in the Charleston Classic semifinals on Friday at 2 p.m. ET
· St. John’s defeated North Texas 53-52 in the first game of the day.
