SPOKANE, Wash., March 21 (UPI) -- No. 4 Dayton staged a dramatic rally from an 18-point deficit Thursday night before suffering an 84-71 loss to No. 13 Tulsa in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region.
The Flyers won the Atlantic 10 tournament on their home floor and had their final road game on March 8 canceled when St. Bonaventure forfeited. Dayton played its first game away from home since Feb. 26 and had to play from behind all night.
Dayton (24-6) came out very flat and trailed 32-14 after just over 11 minutes. The Flyers were down 46-33 at halftime after Ramod Marshall's buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Little by little, Tulsa (23-9) let its lead slip away and Dayton pulled even at 67-67 on Brooks Hall's three-pointer with 5:17 left.
Kevin Johnson responded with a pair of free throws at the other end and Keith Waleskowski brough Dayton back even with a short jump shot. The Golden Hurricane went back ahead for good at 72-69 when Dante Swanson converted a three-point play with 4:15 left.
Swanson and Jason Parker had 24 points apiece to lead Tulsa while Johnson added 16.
Marshall, who led the Flyers with 21 points, missed a pair of three-pointers and Sean Finn was called for offensive goaltending as both teams went scoreless for almost three minutes until Johnson made a hook shot with 1:32 left to pad Tulsa's lead to five points. Charlie Davis scored on a fast break 30 seconds later to virtually seal the victory.
Tulsa played its last road game on March 8 at Nevada. The Golden Hurricane then played the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on their own home floor.
