7th-seeded Flyers rally from 17 down to survive Nevada

SALT LAKE CITY — DaRon Holmes II and seventh-seeded Dayton staged a huge March Madness rally, closing with a 24-4 run to erase a 17-point deficit and beat 10th-seeded Nevada, 63-60, in the West Region on Thursday.

Holmes, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, scored 18 points, including a three-point play with 2:01 remaining that gave Dayton its first lead since the first half.

The Flyers (25-7) trailed 56-39 with 7:36 left but responded with 17 unanswered points. The run included three 3-pointers from Koby Brea, who finished with 15 points.

“In those situations, it’s easy for somebody to try to, like, just get a home run play, try to make it happen by themselves,” Brea said. “In the situation we were in, I think we did a good job of just staying together and doing it together, taking it one possession at a time.”

Enoch Cheeks’ layup with 34 seconds left put Dayton ahead for good, and he made two free throws for the final margin. He scored 12 points as the Flyers picked up their first NCAA Tournament win in nine years.

“That’s been our group all year,” Cheeks said. “When we get into situations like this, we just show resilience. We just have a great group of guys who just always fight and fight. Being in this situation before, we just know that if there’s time on the clock, we have a good chance to come back.”

Dayton, which made its final seven baskets, will face No. 2 seed Arizona in the second round on Saturday.

Jarrod Lucas scored 17 points, and Kenan Blackshear and Nick Davidson scored 15 apiece for the Wolf Pack (26-8), who took control by closing the first half on a 16-0 run. Nevada appeared to have the game well in hand when it held Holmes without a basket for nearly 14 minutes during the second half.