LAHAINA, Hawaii, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Royce O'Neale and Kenny Chery both scored 13 points Tuesday and 17th-ranked Baylor squeaked past Dayton 67-66 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.
The win put unbeaten Baylor (6-0) in Wednesday's championship tilt against Syracuse.
Baylor needed some late heroics from Cory Jefferson to advance. Jefferson's putback layup with 16.4 seconds to play put the Bears in the lead.
Baylor trailed 59-49 with 7:26 left to play, but went on a 16-7 run capped by Gary Franklin's 3-pointer with 1:22 to play, which pulled Baylor to within one and in position to steal the victory. Jefferson grabbed the offensive rebound off Chery's baseline jumper and put it back to give the Bears their first lead since early in the first half.
Jordan Sibert scored 20 points to lead Dayton (5-1), who will play California in Wednesday's consolation game. Devin Oliver scored 14 but came up short on the Flyers' final possession of the game.
