FAIRFAX, VA — The No. 16 Dayton Flyers led by as much as 11 points in the second half but then trailed by that much as they came up short in a 71-67 upset loss Wednesday night at George Mason in Fairfax, Virginia.
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DaRon Holmes II led all scorers with 26 points and seven rebounds.
UD led 33-27 at halftime and scored the first five points of the second half to take a 38-27 lead.
After the Patriots called a timeout, the teams exchanged baskets and the Flyers led 40-29 at the 17:42 mark.
George Mason outscored Dayton, 24-2, for over eight minutes to go up 53-42 with 9:37 remaining.
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UD scored 11 straight points, including a pair of three-pointers by Koby Brea to tie the game at 53-53 with 7:18 remaining.
Javon Bennett’s trey reclaimed the advantage, 56-55, with 5:56 to play. The Patriots scored a pair of buckets to go back up, 61-58. They never trailed again.
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Isaac Jack and Holmes each made two free throws to cut the deficit to one point. But Ronald Polite III buried a three with 3:12 to play to stretch the GMU lead to 64-60.
Holmes made two free throws to cut the deficit to 67-65 with 1:09 remaining. His steal gave the Flyers a chance to tie the game, but his shot rimmed out and the Patriots grabbed the miss and made two foul shots.
Kobe Elvis’ layup with 18 seconds to play cut it 69-67 but Baraka Okojie iced the game with two free throws.
The Flyers fall to 21-5 overall (11-3 in the Atlantic 10).
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George Mason made 71% of their shots in the second half while Dayton shot 36% after halftime. The Patriots went 24-29 from the foul line and UD went 10-14. GMU also scored 30 points inside the paint. Both teams had 16 turnovers.
Okojie led a balanced attack for the Patriots with 19 points. Three other players scored in double figures. Keyshawn Hall had 17, Polite scored 13 points, and Amari Kelly added 12. GMU scored 44 points in the second half.
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Dayton will have six days off before their next game.
They will host Davidson on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the UD Arena at 7 p.m.
Pregame coverage on WHIO Radio begins at 6 p.m. The game will also be broadcast here at WHIO.com.
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