By Marisol Nicholson

DaRon Holmes II Tallies Double-Double in the Win

GAME BOX SCORE

https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2023/12/30/UDMBBvsLongwood_12-30-23.PDF

DAYTON – The University of Dayton Flyers came out victorious against Longwood at home on Saturday 78-69. The Flyers grab their 10th win of the season, their sixth at home.

DaRon Holmes II led the way for the Flyers recording a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs. Three other Flyers were double digit scorers as Kobe Elvis and Koby Brea both recorded 12 points and Javon Bennett finished with 11. Holmes, Elvis and Bennett led the team with four assists apiece.

It was the last non-conference game for both teams.  Dayton enters Atlantic 10 play with a 10-2 record, while Longwood heads into the Big South 11-3.

GAME RECAP
1st Half – Dayton 34, Longwood 37

• After giving up five straight points to begin the game, Dayton got on the board with a Javon Bennett layup on UD’s second possession of the game.
• After another Longwood bucket, Enoch Cheeks put home a layup to make it a 7-4 game at the 18-minute mark.
• Kobe Elvis then found a lane to the basket to draw the Flyers within a point at 7-6.
• DaRon Holmes II got into the scorebook with an emphatic alley-oop finish off the lob from Bennett. This drew the Flyers level at eight with 16:15 left in the half.
• At the first media timeout, Longwood had gone cold without a field goal over a 2:33 period.
• After four unanswered points from Longwood out of the timeout, Elvis finished a nice drive with a layup to bring Dayton back within two.
• Petras Padegimas got himself on the board at the 12:30 mark, knocking down a corner three to make the score 13-14 in favor of Longwood.
• A cold stretch offensively by the Flyers saw Longwood extend their lead to 21-13 at the 10-minute mark. Longwood went on a 7-0 run over 1:19 in which they made three consecutive field goals. A more-than-three-minute field goal drought highlighted the Flyers’ offensive woes.
• Nate Santos broke the drought by finishing a layup through contact to bring Dayton with six at 23-17.
• Bennett knocked down a three out of the under-eight timeout to cut the Longwood lead down to five.
• After forcing a turnover on the other end, Holmes hit a corner three to cut the deficit back down to just two at 23-25 with six minutes left in the half.
• However, Longwood would keep battling as they scored two consecutive baskets to regain a seven-point lead before a Holmes jumper cut it back down to five.
• After another Longwood response, Holmes finished off a drive with a slam dunk to once again cut it to five.
• The teams would continue to go back and forth as after another Longwood basket Enoch Cheeks would convert a contested layup. The lead remained at five with 2:41 left in the half despite Dayton making five of its last seven field goal attempts.
• The Flyers were finally able to cut the lead to three after a defensive stop led to Koby Brea knocking down a jumper with a minute and a half left in the half.
• Holmes knocked down another three as time expired to cut the Longwood lead to 34-37 at the half. He led all players with 14 points going into the break.

 2nd Half –Dayton 78, Longwood 69

• After a Longwood basket to start the half, Kobe Elvis knocked down a three to make it a two-point game at 39-37.
• His second consecutive three on the next possession gave the Flyers their first lead of the game at 40-39.
• A Flyer drought saw them not convert a field goal for almost four minutes. However, Longwood was unable to capitalize as a Holmes three with 13:42 left tied the game at 45.
• Longwood would respond with a basket of their own but Koby Brea gave the Flyers a 48-47 lead and ignited the crowd by knocking down a corner three with 12:28 to play.
• The Flyers stayed hot from beyond the arc as Bennett hit a three on the next possession to extend the lead to four.
• A block by Holmes on the defensive end excited the crowd even further with the Flyers on a 6-0 run going into the media timeout.
• With 9:40 left, Holmes drove to the basket and finished off a nice layup for the Flyers’ third straight field goal. After forcing a turnover, Brea converted a fast break layup extending the Flyer lead to 11 at 59-48. The run was also extended to 14-1 over the last three and a half minutes.
• At the under eight media timeout Longwood had converted just one of their last 10 field goals.
• Out of the timeout, Longwood quickly flipped the script going on a 7-0 run to cut the Flyer lead down to five.
• A Brea floater brought the lead back to seven with 5:40 left to play.
• After a Longwood response, Cheeks threw down a slam dunk to bring the lead back to seven and inject some life into the crowd.
• A Holmes slam kept the momentum going out of the timeout as the Flyers extended their lead to nine at 66-57 with three minutes left on the clock.
• After a defensive stop, Koby Brea hit a wide-open three to extend the Dayton lead to 12 with two and a half minutes left.
• Nate Santos hit a corner three with 1:15 remaining to increase the Flyer lead to 75-60, all but icing the game.
• The Flyers finished the game having made their last five field goal attempts.
• Holmes led the team on the night recording a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

BY THE NUMBERS

• 27- DaRon Holmes led all scorers with 27 points, one shy of his season high.  He added 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in the game
• 7- The Flyers recorded an impressive seven steals during the contest.
• 44- Second half points for the Flyers, 10 more than their first half total.
• 53- Dayton shot 53% (27-51), including 59.1% (13-22) from the field.
• 3 – Koby Brea tied his career high with three steals.  He also led UD with a +13 in +/-

UP NEXT 

• The Flyers kick off Atlantic 10 play by traveling to North Carolina on Wednesday as they take on Davidson.
• Game time is 7 p.m. ET.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS