By Bane Rossi

Koby Brea Scores Career-High 22 Points, Including Dayton’s Last Three Baskets Of Game

11/29/2023

DALLAS – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team improved to 5-2 on the year Wednesday night with a thrilling 65-63 win at SMU.

SMU had the ball under its basket with 3.3 seconds left.  Dayton’s Enoch Cheeks forced the catch deep in the corner, pressured the initial look and then Cheeks and Nate Santos  contested the tough, hurried shot at the buzzer to secure the road win.

Koby Brea scored a career-high 22 points, with DaRon Holmes II right behind with 20.  Brea scored Dayton’s last three baskets (and seven of the Flyers’ final eight points) over the last five minutes.

GAME RECAP
1st Half – SMU 37, Dayton 35
•    SMU made its first seven shots, but only led 16-15 when it missed its first with 13:11 left in the half.
•    UD climbed back into the lead (20-19) on a  Koby Brea three-pointer with 11:19 remaining.
•    The Flyers’ largest lead of the first half (25-21 at the 7:48 mark) came after DaRon Holmes II scored five unanswered points.
•    SMU flipped that, taking a five-point advantage (32-27) five minutes and 10 seconds later.
•    Dayton tied it at 35 with 33.3 seconds left in the half, but SMU hit a tough baseline jumper to grab a two-point halftime lead.
•    Brea, Holmes and Enoch Cheeks all scored nine points to lead UD.
•    Brea (3-3) and Cheeks (3-5) hit three three-points.  All three of Breas came on assists from Holmes.
2nd Half –Dayton 65, SMU 63
•    The Mustangs scored the first five points out of the break to lead 42-35 one minute into the second half.
•    UD fought back with eight straight – a three by Holmes, a three by Brea and a layup by Nate Santos – to get the lead back (43-42 with 16:56 to go).
•    The game remained a one-possession contest for the next 11 minutes, until SMU scored six in a row to lead 60-55 at the 5:37 mark.
•    The Flyers responded with a 10-0 burst of their own to lead 65-60.
•    Brea picked up a loose ball in the lane and hit soft-touch floater to make it 62-60 with 1:47 to go, and then hit a dagger of a three 45 seconds later to make it 65-60.
•    SMU’s Chuck Harris hit a clutch three of his own with 41 seconds left.
•    After Dayton missed the front end of a one-and-one, SMU’s Zhuric Harris missed a layup with six second left but the ball went out of bounds with 3.3  on the clock.
•    The Mustang inbound play came to Harris in the corner, but cheeks forced him to dribble out of pressure and then Cheeks and Santos contested the hurried shot that fell short and the buzzer.
•    Brea had 13 of his 22 points and five of his six rebounds in the second half.  Holmes had 11 of his 20 after halftime, and Cheeks grabbed six of his seven rebounds in the final period.
•    After SMU shot .552 (16-29) from the field in the first half, the Flyers held the Mustangs to .294 (10-34 in the second.

BY THE NUMBERS
•    22 – Koby Brea’s 22 points were a career high.
•    15 – No. 15, DaRon Holmes II, was a stat-sheet-stuffer – 20 points (6-10 FG, 1-1 3-pt., 7-9 FT, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocked shots.
•    6 – Holmes’ six assists matched his career high.
•    8 – Dayton was fouled 11 times in the game, and Holmes drew eight of them.
•    9 – Holmes was also a team-best +9 in the game.
•    50 – UD shot 50% (10-20) from beyond the arc.  Brea was six-for-eight.
•    19 – There were 19 lead changes in the game.

UP NEXT
•    Dayton is home for the next three games, beginning on Saturday when Grambling State visits UD Arena.
•    Game time is 2 p.m. ET.
•    At halftime, members of UD’s 1984 Elite Eight (aka “Final Five”) team will be recognized at halftime.  Flyer coach Anthony Grant was a freshman on that team.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS