DAYTON — The Dayton Flyers lost to Ohio State in a charity exhibition game, 78-70, Sunday night at the UD Arena.
Enoch Cheeks led UD with 17 points, as he made five three-pointers, and Nate Santos grabbed seven rebounds. DaRon Holmes II added 10.
Bruce Thornton led all scorers with 21 points for the Buckeyes.
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The game was part of The Spotlight, a multi-day event to raise awareness for young adult mental health and to benefit several charities that work to break the stigma and provide helpful resources.
This included a town hall meeting at UD Arena on Thursday night.
Two donations were presented to mental health foundations during the game. CareSource gave $50,000 to both the Ohio Suicide and the National Alliance on Mental Illness during a media timeout.
Former Flyer Obi Toppin made a $20,000 donation to Jay’s Light, the foundation that was founded in memory of Jayda Grant.
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Holmes buried a pair of three-pointers as he scored eight points to start the game as Dayton led 11-5.
The Buckeyes made eight of nine field goals to take a 23-21 advantage.
Cheeks and Isaac Jack scored to put UD ahead, 29-25, with 7:07 left until halftime.
Ohio State responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead, 34-29.
The Buckeyes led, 42-39, at halftime.
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Dayton tied the game at 52-52 with 12:28 left in the game but Roddy Gayle, Junior, and Thornton made back-to-back threes to put Ohio State ahead, 58-52.
UD got as close as four points, 65-61, but the Buckeyes stretched to lead to as much as 13 points, 76-63, with 2:44 left.
The Flyers end the exhibition season on Saturday afternoon when they host Cedarville at 2 p.m.
Pre-game coverage starts at 1 p.m. on WHIO Radio. The game will also be carried here at WHIO.com.