By Stretch Jenkinson

2/6/2024

BOX SCORE

https://daytonflyers.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=16411

PHILADELPHIA – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team used a 15-0 run early in the second half to earn a 94-79 road win at Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday.

All five Flyer starters reached scored in double figures for the first time this season.  Kobe Elvis and Nate Santos each led all scorers with 21 points. Javon Bennett had 18, DaRon Holmes II had 13 and Enoch Cheeks added 12.  Elvis added a career-high  10 assists for his first career double-double.

Dayton, ranked 18th/17th in last week’s AP and Coaches polls, is 19-3 overall and 9-1 in the Atlantic 10.  St. Joe’s is 15-8 and 5.  UD is in first place in the A-10, a half-game ahead of Richmond, who is off until Saturday.

GAME RECAP
1st Half – Saint Joseph’s 38, Dayton 34
•    Saint Joseph’s made six of its first eight shots and used a 10-0 run to take a 15-5 lead in the first four minutes of the game.
•    SJU pushed the lead to 11 (its largest of the night) twice midway through the period.
•    Dayton scored 13 unanswered points to take its first lead (24-23) at the 6:25 mark.
•    St. Joe’s scored the next five points to go back on top, and led the rest of the half.
•    The Flyers pulled to within one (35-34) on their final bucket of the half, but a Hawk three made it a four-point margin at halftime.
2nd Half – Dayton 94, Saint Joseph’s 79
•    The two teams traded three-pointers in the first 34 seconds of the second half to keep it a four-point game, but then Dayton scored the next 15 points to take a double-digit advantage that it would keep the rest of the game.
•    UD led by as much as 19 — 67-48 with 7:31 left.
•    After shooting .467 (14-30) from the field in the first half, the Flyers shot .679 (19-28) in the second half.
•    Dayton was a respectable .400 (4-10) from deep before halftime, but was money after, making 8 of 12 (.667).

BY THE NUMBERS
•    21 – Kobe Elvis and Nate Santos each scored 21 points, the second time this season two Flyers scored at least 20.
•    19 – Santos had two points at halftime, 19 after the break.
•    10 – Elvis’ career-high 10 assists gave him his first career-double-double.
•    5 – All five starters reached double figures for the first time this season.
•    33 – Dayton out-rebounded Saint Joseph’s 33-27.
•    7 – Guards Enoch Cheeks and Koby Brea shared team honors on the boards, both grabbing seven.
•    17 – Brea led the team with a +17 rating in 27 minutes of action.
•    60 – UD’s 60 second-half points were the most scored after halftime by the Flyers since 63 against Central Connecticut State on Dec. 27, 1993 (Dayton scored 66 in the first half against VCU on Jan. 12, 2018.).

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