BUFFALO, NY – It was a tight contest throughout, but just before it looked like Dayton was going to seal the victory in the last minute, a couple of turnovers and misses from the charity stripe gave Syracuse two more chances. Fittingly, though, down by two, Syracuse guard Tyler Ennis had an open look from behind the arc at the last second, but his bid for the win banged off the back iron, preserving Dayton’s narrow 55-53 victory over the Orange.
Perhaps the story of the night was Syracuse’s inability to hit from the perimeter, going a dreadful 0-for-10 from three point range, while the Flyers managed to hit 7-of-16 (43.8%) of its outside attempts.
While his teammates struggled to get in any kind of offensive rhythm for most of the game, Ennis did find other ways to score, putting his head down and driving into the heart of the Flyer defense several times, putting up 19 points. C.J. Fair also added 14 points, in the senior’s final game in an Orange uniform.
Forward Dyshawn Pierre led the Dayton effort with 14 points, while Devin Oliver pulled down 10 rebounds to go with his 7 points.
The Flyers advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in three decades, where they will face the winner of Sunday’s Third Round matchup between Kansas and Stanford.
Gary Cohen and Kevin Grevey called the action on WestwoodOne Sports.
