LAHAINA » Dayton left Maui a champion a decade ago with a victory over the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
In the 30th EA Sports Maui Invitational, the Flyers picked up right where they left off.
Dayton (5-0) stunned No. 11 Gonzaga 84-79 with superior late-game execution in the nightcap of first-round action at Lahaina Civic Center on Monday night.
A vocal fan base — the best of all eight teams on the day — lifted the Flyers of the Atlantic 10 Conference to 60.7 percent shooting in the second half, including 8-for-13 (61.5 percent) on 3-pointers.
"It was a home game for us," said guard Jordan Sibert, who led the way on the court with 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting.
Added forward Devin Oliver, "To have such a powerful fan base means a lot to us as players."
The Flyers advanced to face No. 18 Baylor at 4:30 today. Gonzaga (4-1) fell into an 11:30 a.m. consolation game against host Chaminade.
Dayton capitalized on 18 offensive rebounds and won the glass 40-29.
"Hey, we knew we were going to be in a dogfight tonight … and we were," Bulldogs coach Mark Few said.
2015 Maui field announced
The 2015 EA Sports Maui Invitational field was announced on Monday. Participants at the Lahaina Civic Center will be Indiana, Kansas, St. John’s, UCLA, UNLV, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, as well as host Chaminade.
Next year’s field includes Arizona, BYU, Kansas State, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Purdue, San Diego State and Chaminade.
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Brian McInnis, Star-Advertiser |
Gonzaga led 37-28 at halftime, but suffered from poor execution down the stretch, including when its top player, Kevin Pangos, fouled out with 22 seconds left when a teammate could have taken the foul instead, trailing 78-77.
"Early on, I knew I had four fouls. I just kind of blanked there," said Pangos, who finished with a game-high 27 points. "If I knew, I wouldn’t have gone for it."
Dayton’s Dyshawn Pierre made four straight free throws and the game was decided when the Zags’ Kyle Dranginis missed a 3 with eight seconds left.
No. 8 SYRACUSE 75, MINNESOTA 67
C.J. Fair’s dunk highlighted a bloody good time for Syracuse.
The forward’s cheek was raked open on a vicious first-half throwdown on two Minnesota defenders. After sitting a few minutes to get his face patched up, he returned to lead the Orange with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a defeat of the Golden Gophers.
"I forgot who passed me the ball, but I cut down a lane and I went up for the dunk, and I felt like I hit my face," said Fair, the preseason ACC Player of the Year. "Then as I came down I seen blood on my hand, and then from there I knew it was something bad."
But not too bad. If anything, it just seemed to fire up Syracuse. The Orange dunked angrily and emphatically several times when they beat game-long fullcourt pressure from the Gophers and their new coach, 31-year-old Richard Pitino.
Syracuse (5-0) and it’s signature 2-3 zone defense held up in the end after Minnesota (5-1) trimmed a 14-point lead to two with 2:15 left.
CAL 85, ARKANSAS 77
David Kravish had 19 points and 15 rebounds as the Golden Bears (5-0) beat the Razorbacks (3-1).
Ricky Kreklow scored 17 points off the bench, while three others scored in double digits for Cal.
