Saturday's game was just the kind of test that will go a long way to helping both St. Mary's and Dayton when it comes to crunch time in conference and tournament play.

And even though school was not officially in session, there were plenty of lessons both sides learned from the Gaels' nail-biting 61-57 over the Flyers at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

First lesson: Never take your foot off the gas.

Second lesson: Never give in.

Third lesson: Make your free throws.

St. Mary's Emmett Naar passed the third lesson to rescue the No. 17 Gaels, who had a 54-34 lead before the Flyers went on a 20-4 run to give themselves a chance to win.

Naar calmly stepped up to the free-throw line with 7.2 seconds remaining and sank a pair of attempts to seal the win for the Gaels (3-0).

"This was a good win in a tough environment," said St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett. "It was certainly a good test for our team early in the season."

Even though the Flyers were on the losing end, coach Archie Miller wasn't all that disappointed with his team's effort, especially in the second half.

"I liked our fight. This is the first time with this lineup and we have to get used to it," he said. "We played a real good team and now we know what we have to deal with."

The outcome of the game might have been different if Miller had the services of sophomore forward Josh Cunningham, who suffered strained ligaments in his ankle and lower leg in a win against Alabama earlier this week. Cunningham is the Flyers' most physical post presence.

The Gaels took advantage of Cunningham's absence and cashed in on the opportunities with 12 second-chance points to help open a huge lead.

The Flyers used a 13-1 in the final 3:22 to trail by only two at 59-57. They had a chance to tie the game when the Gaels had trouble inbounding the ball. A steal but an offensive foul as Xeyrius Williams drove to the hoop was the Flyers' best chance.

On their third attempt to inbound the ball, the Gaels were successful getting the ball to Naar, setting the stage for him to ice the game for St. Mary's.

What once was a blowout for the Gaels became their stiffest test of the season.

"I thought we were in a little bit of trouble at that point," Miller said. "But our older guys have been there before and just takes a couple of plays to get the momentum back.

Dayton's defense sparked the comeback by forcing the Gaels to turn the ball over on four consecutive possessions.

But the hole was too deep for the Flyers to dig themselves out of.

"We knew it was going to be a big crowd, but this group has been in tough environments before," said forward Calvin Hermanson, who led the Gaels with 16 points. "We were ready to play from the tip. I really trusted my guys at the end to close it. It was definitely a nail biter, but any win on the road is a great win."

He also made four 3-pointers to go with five rebounds.

Jock Landale recorded his first double-double of his career with a 16-point, 14-rebound performance. The Gaels outrebounded the Flyers 38-31, and held a 17-11 edge in second chance points.

Charles Cooke led the Flyers with 19 points, doing most of the damage from the free-throw line, connecting on 11 of 13 foul shots.

"We've got to learn to trust one another and we have to get our rebounding addressed," Miller lamented.

Dayton was able to slow down the high-octane Gaels' offense that entered the game averaging 95.5 points per game and 23.5 assists per game -- third best in the nation.

The Flyers were no slouches on offense either, as they came into Saturday's game averaging more than 86 points per game.

Hermanson and Landale scored the first 19 points for the Gaels. Kyle Clark's 3-point jumper with a little more than nine minutes to go in the first half broke the streak and put St. Mary's up 22-16.

St. Mary's extended the lead to 30-16 when Stefan Gonzalez connected from beyond the arc at the 6:18 mark.

Sam Miller finally ended the Flyers' drought with two free throws that made the score 30-18 with 5:41 to go in the half.

NOTES: Dayton's Archie Miller is 117-55 in his sixth season at the helm of the Flyers. ... St. Mary's Randy Bennett is 335-151 in his 16th season. He has guided the Gaels to five NCAA tournament appearances and five NIT appearances and is the school's all-time wins leader with 336. ... Saturday was only the second time the two schools had played. The Flyers won 69-50 on Dec. 14, 1957, at UD Fieldhouse. ... The Flyers' senior class is 17 victories away from tying the record for most victories by a class. ... The Gaels have two players named Jock on the roster. In addition to Landale, Jock Perry is a 7-foot, 1-inch freshman center who has yet to play. ... Dayton next plays Nebraska on Thursday in the first round of the Wooden Legacy tournament in Anaheim, Calif. ... The Gaels play host to San Jose State on Tuesday.