Holmes stars as No. 21 Dayton rallies past St. Bonaventure

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — DaRon Holmes II scored 25 of his 34 points in the second half, helping No. 21 Dayton rally past St. Bonaventure for a 76-71 victory on Friday night.

Enoch Cheeks added 13 points as Dayton (18-3, 8-1 Atlantic 10) earned its second straight win since a 69-64 loss at Richmond last weekend. Holmes also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots in a terrific all-around performance.

St. Bonaventure (13-8, 4-5) tied it at 54 when Assa Essamvous made a 3-pointer with 7:24 left. But Dayton responded with a 9-0 run that included six foul shots by Holmes.

St. Bonaventure's two big men, Chad Venning and Noel Brown, both fouled out trying to keep Holmes in check down the stretch.

A pair of foul shots by Mika Adams-Woods and a 3-pointer by Moses Flowers trimmed Dayton's lead to 72-69 with 21 seconds left. But the Bonnies had to foul Holmes, who made two more free throws.

A 3-point try by Adams-Woods was blocked, and Holmes punctuated the victory with a dunk at the other end.

Adams-Woods led the Bonnies with 17 points. Charles Pride had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball