By Bane Rossi

DAYTON – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team won a close game against Youngstown State Friday night at UD Arena. It was a back-and-forth contest that ultimately saw the Flyers earn a victory over an experienced, upset-minded opponent. Dayton trailed most of the first half, by as much as 10 at one point, but managed to regain the lead by the end of the first half and hold it the rest of the way.

The Flyers were led by impressive scoring performances from five players who finished in double digits. Daron Holmes II led the way with 18 followed by Kobe Elvis and Koby Brea with 15 each. Javon Bennett and Nate Santos both tallied 10 points on the night.

Santos led the Flyers with 13 rebounds while Elvis and Enoch Cheeks led in the assist category with 4 apiece. Defensively, Dayton recorded nine blocks as a team led by Holmes and Isaac Jack who tallied four and three respectively.

Dayton is now 4-2 on the season, while Youngstown State is 3-3.

GAME RECAP
First Half – Dayton 37, Youngstown State 35

• Javon Bennett got the Flyers on the board first knocking down a three just 15 seconds into the game.
• Enoch Cheeks followed it up with a three of his own, giving the Flyers a 6-3 lead in the first minute and a half of the game.
• DaRon Holmes II continued the scoring streak with a dunk to extend the Flyer lead to 8-3.
• The Penguins started four-for-four from behind the arc, jumping out to an early 12-8 lead.
• Bennett made the Flyers first field goal in the last seven attempts to cut the Penguin lead to three at 11-14 with 14:24 left to play.
• At the under-12 media timeout, the Flyer defense was in the midst of a stellar stand having held the Penguins to a 4:52 scoring drought in which they missed six straight field goals.
• Coming out of the media timeout, Koby Brea ignited the crowd by hitting a transition three to tie the game at 16.
• After a couple of defensive stops, Isaac Jack slammed home a fast break dunk to give the Flyers an 18-16 lead.
• Leading into the under-eight media timeout, Youngstown State went on a 14-3 run over 4:11. During this time, Dayton experienced a nearly four-minute scoring drought. At the timeout, the Penguins led 30-21.
• After Jack capitalized on two free throws, Brea made a three with 5:15 remaining to cut the Youngstown State lead down to four.
• With 2:30 remaining in the half, Holmes threw down a slam dunk to cut the deficit down to five. On the defensive end, he blocked a shot which led to a Kobe Elvis layup on the other end. A second consecutive Holmes block would electrify the crowd even further and provide the Flyers with the spark to ignite a late first half run.
• After a Dayton defensive stop, Nate Santos nailed a three to tie the game at 35 with 43 seconds remaining.
• Kobe Elvis came up with a steal and threw a pinpoint 50-foot alley-oop pass that  Holmes threw down a dunk to give the Flyers a 37-35 lead going into the half.
• Dayton finished the half on a 9-0 scoring run having made five of their last six field goals.
• Brea led the team with nine points while Nate Santos brought in a team-high seven rebounds in the first half.

Second Half – Dayton 77, Youngstown State 69

• It was Elvis who started second-half scoring for the Flyers, knocking down a three 19 seconds into the half.
• Elvis would hit the Flyers’ first two baskets of the half with another three at the 17:20 mark.
• Holmes converted another dunk to extend the Flyer lead to 45-39 with 15:43 left to play.
• Elvis made yet another three, his third of the half, with 15:02 remaining, giving the Flyers a 48-42 lead.
• Jack denied a Youngstown State layup with 12:31 remaining to keep the score at 52-45 Dayton. The Flyers would also take possession.
• Both teams hit a cold stretch in the middle of the second half, each being on a scoring drought that lasted over three minutes at the 10-minute mark.
• Holmes would end this drought for the Flyers by converting a layup with 9:20 remaining
• Holmes was also on the receiving end of an alley-oop pass from Enoch Cheeks which gave Dayton a 56-48 lead with 7:44 remaining.
• Javon Bennett converted a layup off of an impressive spin move to increase the Flyer lead to 62-57 with 4:50 left to play.
• The Flyers pulled out the victory after a quiet last five minutes, completing a 77-69 win.
• Dayton led by at least three the entire second half.

BY THE NUMBERS

• 4- Blocks by DaRon Holmes II
• 12- Rebounds by Nate Santos.
• 18-Points by Holmes, 12 in the second half.
• 15- Points by Kobe Elvis and Koby Brea, a season high for both players.  13 of Elvis’ came in the second half.
• 10-Points by Javon Bennett and Santos to give the Flyers five players in double digits.
• 4-Assists by Elvis and Enoch Cheeks to lead UD.
• 11-Number of fouls drawn by Holmes
• +13-Team-best +/- rating by Isaac Jack and Bennett.
• 21-Points off the bench compared to six for YSU.

UP NEXT

• The Flyers will travel to Dallas, Texas on Wednesday to take on SMU.
• Tip-off is at 8 p.m. ET
• Dayton’s next home game is Saturday, Dec. 2 against Grambling State.
• Game time is 2 p.m. ET.
• UD will recognize members of the 1984 NCAA “Final Five” team at halftime.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RLATIONS