By Chris Garvin

12/20/2023

BOX SCORE

https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2023/12/20/DAYvOAK.PDF

DAYTON – The University of Dayton Flyers won in convincing fashion at home against Oakland on Wednesday night, 91-67. The Flyers improve to 9-2 on the season and remain undefeated at home in five games this season.
Javon Bennett and Koby Brea led the way for the Flyers with strong performances. Bennett put in two season highs with 19 points and nine assists (with zero turnovers) while Brea recorded 17 points off the bench. Both players made five three pointers on the night, a career high for Bennett.

GAME RECAP

1st Half – Dayton 46, Oakland 28

• After an Oakland three to begin the game, Nate Santos responded with a three of his own to get the Flyers on the board.
• Kobe Elvis would then finish off a nice drive to the basket with a floater to tie the game 5-5. An Elvis three on the next possession gave Dayton their first lead at 8-5 with 17:29 remaining.  UD would lead the rest of the game.
• After a couple of possessions without a score, Javon Bennett knocked down a corner three to increase the Flyer lead to 11-7 with 15:15 on the clock.
• Despite a slow-moving offense, the Dayton defense performed stellar through the first 10 minutes. This was punctuated by an emphatic block from Enoch Cheeks with 11:15 remaining in the half.
• Bennett would capitalize on this strong defensive showing, hitting a corner three to increase the Flyer lead to 14-9 with 10:45 to play.
• Javon Bennett continued to impress on the offensive end, banking in a floater at the 10-minute mark.
• He would then find Brea for a three on the next possession, increasing the Flyer lead to seven at 19-12 with 9:28 to play in the half.
• Isaac Jack got on the board with his first points of the contest off of a Santos assist to make the score 21-16 Flyers with 7:54 to play.
• Out of the timeout, DaRon Holmes II found Brea for three to add to his impressive three-point shooting season and increase the Flyer lead to 24-16.
• Despite Dayton’s solid play, having converted five of their last seven field goals at the five-minute mark, the Golden Grizzlies would not go down easily as they converted an and-one to cut the lead to four at 25-21.
• Elvis would spark a run for the Flyers, however, as a made three and an assist on back-to-back possessions saw Dayton soar to a nine-point lead. A Santos layup would make it a 7-0 run for the Flyers as they suddenly found themselves firmly in control with an 11-point lead at 32-21 with 3:33 remaining in the first half.
•  It was Santos who kept the run alive by draining a three-pointer to increase the lead to 35-21 now with under three minutes to go in the first half.
• Bennett kept the momentum going with a deep three-point bucket as the shot clock expired.
• After forcing a turnover on the defensive end, the Flyers converted their sixth straight field goal with a Bennett jumper to stretch the lead to 40-24 with 1:38 left on the clock.
• With 25 seconds left in the half, Kobe Elvis drew a foul on a step-back three which sent him to the line to shoot three free throws.
• Over the last five minutes of the half, Dayton went on an 18-7 run and had made six of their last seven field goals going into the break.
• The first half saw three Flyers tally double-digit scoring numbers. Bennett led the way with 13 points followed closely by Santos and Elvis with 11 each.

 2nd Half –Dayton 91, Oakland 67

• Holmes got the second-half scoring for the Flyers with a powerful slam on Dayton’s opening possession of the half.
• He would score the first two baskets for the Flyers with a jumper on the very next possession to increase the Dayton lead to 20.
• Bennett picked up where he left off at halftime, knocking down a deep three to make it a 53-30 ball game with 17:19 left to play.
• The Flyer offense stalled after the first couple of possessions as they had only made one of their last seven and none of their last four field goal attempts going into the first media timeout. Despite their struggles, they still held an 18-point lead at 53-35.
• Petras Padegimas snapped the cold streak for the Flyers by knocking down a corner three to record his first points of the game and increase the lead to 16 with 13:04 left to play.
• Brea got himself into the second-half box score by making a corner three with 11:45 left to make the score 60-42.
• Bennett continued to light it up with another three to bring the Dayton lead back to 18 with 10:31 left to play. His 19th point set a new season high.
• Elvis caught the Flyers’ three-point fever for the first time in the second half as he knocked down a transition deep ball to make it a 66-47 ball game with eight minutes still to play.
• At the under-4 media timeout, Dayton was on a 13-3 run over the last four minutes of play. This saw them converting four of their last five field goal attempts while Oakland was in the midst of a brutal cold streak which saw them converting only one of their last eleven attempts.
• Koby Brea gave the Flyers their first 30-point lead of the night with his fifth three of the contest.
• Junior walk-on Brady Uhl and sophomore walk-on Atticus Schuler recorded his first points of the season with a three-pointer in the waning moments of the game.
• Freshman Evan Dickey had his first college assist and Makai grant had his first college rebound.
• The Flyers were led in scoring by Bennett with 19. He was one assist away from a double-double as he led the team with nine. Other Flyers in double digits were Brea with 17, Elvis with 14, Santos with 13, and DaRon Holmes II with 10. Holmes also led the team with eight boards.

BY THE NUMBERS

• 19- Javon Bennett scored a season-high 19 points.
• 9- Bennett also tallied nine assists, another season high.
• 8- DaRon Holmes II led UD in rebounding with eight.  He also led UD with two blocked shots and two steals.
• 52.9- The Flyers shot 52.9 percent from the three-point line on the night, their highest percentage of the season.
• 2- Dayton had just two runovers in the game.
• 7- Dayton put in an impressive performance on the defensive side of the ball, forcing seven turnovers.
• 18- The Flyers made a school record 18 threes as a team.
• 26- UD had 26 assists on 31 made baskets.  Eight different players had at least one assist.

 UP NEXT 

• The Flyers will take some time off around the holiday before returning home on Saturday, December 30 to take on Longwood.
• That game will tip off at 2 p.m. ET.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS