CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The University of Dayton men's basketball team and sixth-ranked Houston will square off in the championship game of the Shriner's Children's Hospitals Charleston Classic on Sunday. Game time is 8:30 p.m. ET.
Sunday's game will be carried by WHIO Radio and televised on ESPN. Streaming audio, video and live stats will be available at DaytonFlyers.com.
Dayton, 3-1, reached the finals by beating St. John's 88-81 on Friday. UD trailed by two at halftime, and led by as much as 12 in the win.
DaRon Holmes II scored 21 points (14 in the second half) to lead the Flyers.
Nate Santos had 18 points (13 in the second half), and
Enoch Cheeks,
Kobe Elvis and
Koby Brea all scored 10, Elvis distributed a team-best five assists.
#TRENDING
• Dayton is the preseason favorite in the Atlantic 10 in the annual vote of the league's coaches and selected media. The Flyers received 20 of the 25 first-place votes cast.
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DaRon Holmes II was named Preseason First Team All-Atlantic 10 and to the Preseason All-Defensive Team. He was the only player on the first team and the defensive team.
• Last season, he was also First Team All-A-10 and on the All-Defensive Team as well the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Men's Basketball Championship (21.7 ppg., 10.1 rpg., 4.0 bpg.).
• Holmes is on three prestigious preseason watch lists -- Atlanta Tip-Off Club's Naismith Award, the Los Angeles Athletic Club's John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's Karl Malone Award.
• Holmes led UD in scoring (18.4), and was second in rebounding (8.1) in 2022-23 He was the only player in the A-10 to be in the top five in both. He also led the A-10 in blocked shots (1.94).
• Holmes had the most dunks in D-I in the regular season (89) in 2022-23. He led all freshmen and was sixth overall with 81 in 2021-22. UD's first bucket of the year was a Holmes dunk.
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Nate Santos grabbed a college career-best 14 rebounds in the season-opening SIUE win.
• Santos is currently third in A-10 in rebounding (8.3), and fourth in FG% (.708, 17-24)
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Enoch Cheeks is fourth in the Atlantic 10 in steals per game (2.3).
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Koby Brea is tied for seventh in the A-10 in three-pointers per game (2.8).
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Kobe Elvis leads the A-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (11.0), is ninth in FT% (.900, 9-10) and 10th in assists (4.0)
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Malachi Smith was injured seven minutes into the opener, and after successful surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee on Nov. 8, he will miss the rest of the 2023-24 season. He was named Preseason Second Team All-Atlantic 10.
• This is the third time in the last four MTEs that Dayton has played in that the Flyers reached the championships game (and 25th in school history). UD was second in the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational, and won the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando.
• This is also the first time since the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational that UD has played a top 10 team. The Flyers defeated fourth-ranked Kansas 74-73 in the semifinals of that tournament.
UP NEXT
•Dayton's next home game is Friday, Nov. 24 versus Youngstown State. Game time is 7 p.m. ET.
