• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Dayton tops Syracuse to advance to the Sweet 16

Mar 23, 2014 - 5:13 AM Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Dayton sweated out another shot at the horn and are off to the Sweet 16 for the first time in three decades.

Tyler Ennis' pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark and Dayton upset Syracuse, 55-53, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 11th-seeded Flyers (25-10), who advanced past sixth-seeded Ohio State in the second round after Aaron Craft's desperation drive and shot at the buzzer was too strong, are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1984.

"Buffalo's been good to us these last couple of days on the buzzer shots," Dayton head coach Archie Miller said.

Dayton will face either Kansas or Stanford in the next round. Those two will play Sunday afternoon.

Syracuse (28-6) dropped six of its last nine to close the season after beginning the year 25-0.

With less than a minute to play, Jordan Sibert took in Devin Oliver's pass from well beyond the arc along the right wing with the shot clock running down and let it fly.

It went in and staked the Flyers to a 52-46 advantage with 49 seconds left.

The stellar freshman Ennis then quickly tallied a three-point play and after Oliver missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Ennis was fouled and sunk two free throws to get the Orange within 52-51.

Dyshawn Pierre, who led Dayton with 14 points, then hit two foul shots before Ennis drove in for a layup to again cut the deficit to one, 54-53, with 18 ticks to go.

Sibert then stepped out of bounds on the ensuing inbounds, but Ennis was unable to put Syracuse in front after clanking a jumper from the top of the key.

Pierre split a pair of foul shots with seven seconds to play to put Dayton up 55-53.

Ennis then dribbled the length of the floor before pulling up from the right wing for the win, but it was off the mark, unlike his triple that beat Pittsburgh at the buzzer on Feb. 12 to keep Syracuse unbeaten.

"The last shot was a great shot," Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said. "You don't have enough time to get to the basket. I have no problem with that shot."

The Orange finished 0-of-10 from three-point range.

Sibert netted 10 points and Oliver pulled down 10 rebounds for the Flyers.

Ennis had 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting, while C.J. Fair added 14 points and 10 boards for Syracuse.

Earlier, Fair, Ennis and sharpshooter Trevor Cooney combined to go 3-of-18 from the field in the opening half and Dayton headed into the break with a 20-18 edge.

Back-to-back buckets by Fair and Ennis gave Syracuse a 40-37 lead with 7:51 on the clock before Dayton ripped off seven straight. Scoochie Smith capped the burst by getting a kind bounce on a 3-pointer, which gave the Flyers a 44-40 advantage with 5:33 to play.

Game Notes

Dayton shot 41.3 percent (19-of-46) from the floor and 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from beyond the arc ... Fair was 4-of-14 from the field ... The Orange held a 40-18 points in the paint advantage.