Holloway scores 22 to rally No. 24 past Dayton in game with controversial ending

No. 24 Xavier rallies from 15 down to beat Dayton

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Terrell Holloway hit a go-ahead three-point play with 1:22 to play and No. 24 Xavier rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to defeat Dayton 78-73 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Friday night.

The game between the longtime Ohio rivals had somewhat of a controversial ending when Rob Lowery was called for a technical foul with 33.6 seconds to play for taking a swipe at Holloway after the guard knocked the ball out of his hands after a time out with Xavier ahead 70-68.

Holloway hit the two free throws to push the lead to four points and he added two more with 32.4 seconds to go after he was fouled again.

Holloway finished with 22 points to lead the second-seeded Musketeers (24-7), who closed the game with a 32-12 run. Jordan Crawford added 20 points and Jason Love had 17 and 10 rebounds as Xavier won its eighth in a row.

Marcus Johnson had 18 points and Chris Wright had 17 to lead seventh-seeded Dayton (20-12), which led 61-46 with 10:37 to play. Lowery added 14.

Xavier, which is looking for its first conference title since 2006, will face the winner of the quarterfinal between third-seeded Richmond and 11th-seeded Massachusetts on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall.

Xavier limited Dayton to just three field goals in the final 10:36 and all three came in the final 72 seconds. The last two were scored in the final 13 seconds when the game was decided.

The bizarre play was the technical against Lowery.

Crawford had hit the second of two free throws with 36.5 seconds to play to give Xavier a 70-68 lead. Lowery took the inbounds pass and dribbled just over halfcourt and called a time out on instructions from coach Brian Gregory.

The officials blew the whistle, but Holloway walked right up to him and slapped the ball out of Lowery’s hands.

Lowery took exception and swung at him in a slapping motion right in front of official Brent Hampton, who immediately told crew chief Joe DeMayo. He watched the play on videotape and then told both coaches he was calling a technical, which did not make Gregory happy.

Holloway then hit his four free throws. Dante’ Jackson added two more 10 seconds later and Dayton was done, a fate the conference’s preseason favorite never thought would happen after controlling the game for the first 30 minutes.

The Flyers went ahead 61-46 on two free throws by Josh Benson with 10:37 to play and then they went ice cold and started turning the ball over.

Holloway hit a 3-pointer to get Xavier going, Crawford followed with a three-point play and Holloway added three more free throws to close the gap to 61-55.

After Wright hit two free throws with 7:25 to go, Mark Lyons hit two free throws to ignite a 9-2 spurt that got the Musketeers within 65-64 on a short bank shot by Holloway.

After Kurt Huelsman made 1 of 2 free throws with 2:56 to play, Crawford tied the game with a floater in the lane 31 seconds later.

Holloway gave Xavier the lead for good with a drive around the left lane for a three-point play.

Nine of Dayton’s losses in 2010 have been by five points or fewer.

Dayton shot nearly 54 percent from the field and held Xavier to 37 percent shooting in the first half in taking a 40-35 lead.