DaRon Holmes II scored 18 and snagged nine rebounds. (Press Pros Fie Photos)
The University of Dayton Flyers were seemingly down and doomed, trailing Nevada by 17 points with seven minutes left in their first round NCAA tournament game, but they made it an impossible dream with a 17-point run and a 24-4 finish to snag a 63-60 win to move into a second round game against No. 2 seed Arizona on Saturday.
Salt Lake City, UT — Incredible! Incomprehensible! Implausible! Unbelievable!
Hall of famer Hal McCoy writes UD Flyer basketball exclusively for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Not even Noah Webster has the words to put in his dictionary to describe what the Dayton Flyers did Thursday afternoon in the shadow of the Mormon Tabernacle.
The Flyers advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a finish perhaps never seen in March Madness.
And it was madness, this 63-60 victory over Nevada.
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The Flyers were down 17 points with seven minutes left. . .down 56-39. Seventeen points! Seven minutes left!
A 17-0 UD blast tied it and a 24-4 finish sealed it with a big, fat double knot.
The broadcasters were waxing eloquently on how Nevada would stack up in the second round against Arizona. Instead, it is the Flyers meeting Arizona Saturday.
Koby Brea made four three-pointers down the stretch.
“That’s called resiliency and we’ve been in those situations all the time,” said DaRon Holmes II after a fairly quiet afternoon that was still another near double/double — 18 points, nine rebounds.
“We stuck together through adversity, we came back and fought hard. Whether we’re up or down, we have to play together. That’s what makes Dayton basketball special. That’s why we worked so hard to get here.”
Special? This one was special delivery, one that not Amazon nor UPS nor FedEx could deliver.
The Flyers put the pedal, not to the metal, but through the floorboards on a 17-0 run that tied it, 56-56 with 2:45 left.
Nevada’s Jared Lucas put a temporary tourniquet on the bleeding with a basket that put the Wolf Pack back in front, 58-56 with 2:26 left.
That was a temporary pause for the Flyers.
Holmes scored underneath and completed a three-point play to push UD in front, 59-58.
Kenan Blackshear scored for Nevada to yank the Wolf Pack back in front, 60-59.
Then Nate Santos scored underneath at 40 seconds to go for a 61-60 UD lead, then he and Enoch Cheeks combined to make a steal and Santos was fouled.
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He calmly buried the two free throws with 15.5 seconds left for a 63-60 lead. Nevada fired two wild threes and the buzzer sounded.
End of the Salt Lake Salvation.
Seventeen-point deficits? Child’s play for these Flyers. They were down 17 to LSU in the Charleston Classic. And won. They were down 17 to VCU. And won.
But 17 down to a quality team like Nevada? Down 17 in the NCAA tournament?
Nate Santos helped spark the 17-point run to bring UD back.
After looking whipped and dismantled because they couldn’t make layups, couldn’t make threes and couldn’t get the ball to Holmes, the Flyers did all three in the final seven minutes and made all seven field goal attempts.
Santos and Brea were non-factors in the first half and it was Nevada staging a big run. The Flyers led, 25-18, but Nevada scored the last 16 points to grab a 34-25 lead.
And everybody but the Flyers figured UD’s season was history. It looked worse when Nevada built the lead to 17.
But Santos and Brea came alive. Santos was scoreless in the first half and Brea had one three.
The long, steep, winding and precarious climb back began with a Holmes free throw. Brea hit a three. Holmes scored underneath. Holmes made two free throws. Brea hit another three. Santos hit a three.
And Brea, the nation’s best three-point gunner, shot another one home, his third during the run, to complete the 17-point explosion.
Through that offensive display, the Flyers also put on their Sunday defensive clothes, stopping Nevada like traffic cops and did not commit a foul in those last seven minutes.
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“We really locked in on defense and that helped us on offense,” said Santos.
Never was a coach more proud of a team than Flyer coach Anthony Grant. If he had buttons on his red quarter-zip sweater he would popped them all.
“We never quit, they showed tremendous resiliency and they’ve done that a few times this year,” said Grant. “When the chips aren’t in our favor, they find a way.
Javon Bennett made unnoticed contributions.
“I’m at a loss for words, but I’m extremely proud of the fight, the grit, the determination that our group showed tonight. That’s a good basketball team that we beat,” he added. “Our guys never gave up and I’m proud of the way they believed in each other.”
Brea, after making one three in the first half, made four in the second half to finish with 15. Santos, scoreless in the first half, scored eight, all in the decisive final seven minutes.
Enoch Cheeks contributed eight points and Kobe Elvis, enduring another off night shooting the ball, distributed five assists.
With seven minutes to go, there was a media timeout, time for the Flyers to gather their wits and their shooting eyes.
“In those moments, that’s when we get the closest,” said Brea. “We’ve been in those situations a couple of times this year. We look at our coach and we see he’s not worried, he believes in us. . .every player on the bench and every coach, they believe in us.”
Flyer Coach Anthony Grant couldn’t be prouder.
And Brea’s teammates believe in him and his three-point range, which seems to be anywhere on the 4,700 square feet of playing floor.
“My teammates looked at me and they were like, ‘We don’t care if you shoot, even if it’s contested, because we need you to shoot the ball,’” said Brea.
“When you have that kind of confidence from my teammates, that kind of trust and belief, I feel that the only thing I can do is pay it back to them, man,” he added. “It is really easy for me to do that when I have that kind of trust from my teammates. They make it easy for me.”
And Brea, with his perfect form, perfect release and perfect follow-through, was the perfect answer as to whether the Flyers could concoct a comeback that will live forever at the top of the archives.
Holmes, the court leader and eloquent speaker, summed it up.
“We have a team that can get hot at any moment,” he said. “We did a very good job of that. We got hot and when we got hot, we stuck together. That’s what happens.”
And during the seven-minute colossal comeback, the Flyers were more than hot. They were at 212 degrees, boiling hot.
So instead of returning to the hotel to pack and head home, the Flyers live and breathe for another game, a challenge against No. 2 seed Arizona.
“We’ll watch some film tonight, the coaches will be up late tonight, studying Arizona to learn as much as we can,” said Grant. “It is a quick turnaround for both teams. We’ll try to learn and we’ll be ready to go.”
One thing the Flyers won’t have to review is how to come back from 17-point deficits. They have that one down pat.
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