DAYTON — There was no soul-tormenting outcome this time.

No what-ifs, coulda-had-its, we’re-better-than-our-record laments.

Dayton hosted youthful Saint Louis on Saturday, March 6, and it was a garden-variety rear-end-whoopin’.

Needing a win to keep their slight NCAA tournament at-large hopes from getting zapped, the Flyers dropped a 71-66 decision before a sellout crowd on senior night to a team whose roster is stocked with sophomores and freshmen.

UD (19-11, 8-8 Atlantic 10) fell behind by 17 in the first half, and every bid to stage a rally was repelled by the Billikens (20-10, 11-5).

“They came out with a lot of energy and took it to us,” senior Kurt Huelsman said.

Down nine with under four minutes to go, the Flyers had one last burst in them, scoring seven straight points to cut the deficit to two with 2:34 to go. But Flyer-slayer Kwamain Mitchell scored on a drive, UD’s Chris Wright traveled, and Christian Salecich swished a 3-pointer with 1:35 left to push the lead to 63-56.

The Billikens tied their season high with 12 3-pointers in 24 attempts.

“They brought it to us,” UD’s Rob Lowery said. “They hit a lot of 3s. They just came to play.”

The Flyers once went 10 minutes and four seconds without scoring and had more turnovers (8) than buckets (7) while ending the first half with a 34-19 deficit, leaving the court to boos.

UD, which hosts George Washington in the first round of the A-10 tourney at 7 p.m. Tuesday, has played in seven games decided by four points or fewer since Jan. 1 and has lost them all. And UD coach Brian Gregory believes the close defeats have had an impact on his team’s psyche.

“We played a very tough, emotional game on the road late Thursday night (against Richmond), and this is the first time all year we haven’t really responded,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com