CHICAGO — Needing a win to keep alive their chances at an Atlantic 10 Conference regular season title, Dayton stumbled by committing a season-high 22 turnovers and the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers upset the 21st-ranked Flyers 77-72 on Friday night.
The Ramblers (21-8, 13-3 Atlantic 10) got a key performances from Des Watson, who scored 24 points and a double-double from Braden Norris, chipping in 19 points and 11 assists.
Both Dayton and Loyola-Chicago entered the game tied for second place in the Atlantic 10 standings, trailing first-place Richmond and their 13-2 conference record.
The Flyers came in as the preseason favorites to win the A-10 Conference and now appear to be out of the race for the regular season crown.
“I thought our guys battled. It was a really highly contested game. Give them credit, they made some plays," Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “Defensively, we knew they would be disruptive. They've got really good players, very well-coached team, and it was a great environment today. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with a win.”
Dayton held a 35-32 lead at halftime. DaRon Holmes scored eight of the first 10 points for the Flyers, to have 10 points at the break.
Holmes finished the game with 20 points overall and nine rebounds for Dayton (22-6, 12-4), who has now lost two of their last three games. Enoch Cheeks added 16 points for Dayton.
With six minutes remaining and trailing by seven points, Dayton began to climb back. They got a three-point play from Cheeks and Homes followed with a pair of free throws to tie it up at 63.
Then Koby Brea buried a three and Nate Santos followed with a 4-point play, giving the Flyers a 52-47 lead with 13:47 remaining.
But the Ramblers responded with a 12-2 run, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk by Tom Welch on a pass from Norris, and Loyola-Chicago grabbed a 59-54 lead with 7:55 left.
Still ahead in the late stages of the game, Philip Alston hit a three to give the Ramblers a 69-65 lead with 3:03.
Brea answered with a 3-pointer of his own to make it a one-point deficit.
With 2:09 left, Norris hit a crucial three to put Loyola-Chicago up four, but Holmes cut it to 72-70 with two free throws.
But the Flyers would get no closer, as Norris put the game out of reach with another three-ball from the corner to make it a two-score game with 17 seconds remaining.
There was a tense exchange during the postgame handshakes between the teams, but it was quickly diffused as both squads ushered their players off the court to their locker rooms.
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