The Dayton Flyers fell behind early and could not get past the No. 6 Houston Cougars, 69-55, Sunday night in the championship game of the Shriners Children’s Hospital Charleston Classic.
>>Dayton beats St. John’s, advances to Charleston Classic championship game
DaRon Holmes II led UD with 16 points and Nate Santos added 14.
The Flyers shot 19-47 (40%) from the field, including 4-18 from three-point range.
L.C. Cryer led the Cougars with 18 points while Jamal Shead added 16.
Santos was named to the all-tournament team.
>>Dayton plays St. John’s in Charleston Classic semifinals following thrilling comeback over LSU
Dayton tied the game at 4-4 on Santos’ three-pointer but Houston went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 14-4.
UD responded and cut the deficit to 19-15 on an alley-oop from Kobe Elvis to Zimi Nwokeji.
The Cougars scored seven straight points, including a steal and layup by Shead, to go up 26-15.
The Flyers trailed 36-28 at halftime.
Houston opened the second half on a 9-2 run to expand the lead to 45-30 on a Shead basket with 16:20 remaining. The Cougars pushed their largest lead to 20 points, 54-34, with 12:24 remaining, and never looked back.
>>UD Flyers chase down LSU, 70-67, to reach Charleston Classic semifinals; St. John’s next
Dayton falls to 3-2 and finishes in second place in the Shriners Children’s Hospital Charleston Classic.
Their next game will be Friday, November 24, when they host Youngstown State at 7 p.m. at the UD Arena.
Pre-game coverage on WHIO Radio begins at 6 p.m. The game will also be carried here at WHIO.com.
