By Quincy Burns

Nate Santos & Malachi Smith UD M BKB Postgame Press Conference UD 86 Lehigh 62 12 7 2024.mp3

12/7/2024

Senior Nate Santos Led The Flyers with 24 Points and 6 Threes

DAYTON – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team won in dynamic fashion 86-62 over Lehigh on Saturday. This marks the Flyers 23rd consecutive home win.

The Flyers were led by Nate Santos with 24 points going 6-for-6 from beyond the arc.  Santos’ perfect performance from beyond the arc was second in Dayton basketball history to Shawn Haughn’s 8-for-8 vs. Saint Louis in  the 1933-94 season.  Malachi Smith went for 17 points, Enoch Cheeks had 14 points and Zed Key added 12.

Dayton improves to 8-2 on the season, while Lehigh falls to 3-6.

GAME RECAP
First Half – Dayton 41, Lehigh 25

• Dayton got off to a hot start by hitting three daggers from beyond the arc by junior Javon Bennett, redshirt junior Malachi Smith, and senior Enoch Cheeks.
• Freshman Amaël L’Etang went on a six-point run of his own by getting all his buckets in the paint that kept Flyers rolling 19-9.
• Graduate student Zed Key continued Dayton’s strong performance with his first bucket off a nice jump hook at 10:52 mark.
• Senior Nate Santos got his first points after finishing through the tough contact and securing the and-one at 10:07 mark.
• Smith continued his strong half by knocking down another swish from beyond the arc that kept Dayton in comfortable fashion 28-13
• Key secured another bucket for the Flyers with a hook shot before the timeout
• Santos continued Dayton’s dominant half with back to back buckets including a dagger that kept them in strong fashion 37-21
• Smith continued his impressive first half with a smooth mid-range pull-up and secured the and-one that made it 41-25 Dayton

Second Half – Dayton 86, Lehigh 62

• Santos got himself going with back to back three point daggers to start the half for the Flyers
• Cheeks went on a little eight point scoring run for the Flyers including two daggers from three, that kept Dayton in front 57-31
• At the 11:40 mark, Santos drained yet another three from downtown
• Key added two more points for the Flyers with a strong move in the post
• Smith maintained his strong performance with a layup at the 10:21 mark
• Bennett got crafty with the dribble and finished a beautiful reverse layup through the tough physical contact at 07:48 mark that kept Dayton’s lead 66-47
• Cheeks continued his strong half with a corner three
• Key dropped an easy two, to keep up the Flyers offensive run 71-53
• Smith lets it fly from the arc, knocking down yet another three-point goal with 4:07 remaining
• Santos was unstoppable as he went back-to-back scoring his sixth three, going for 6-6 to add to the Flyers lead 82-56
• Key powered through the defense to add two points for the Flyers, keeping the momentum alive with 51 seconds remaining

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
•    23 – This marks Dayton’s 23nd consecutive home win
•    24: Nate Santos led the Flyers with 24 points, marking a new season-high
•    6: Nate Santos led all players with six threes in the game marking a new season high
•    1,000: Zed Key’s 12 points today marked him scoring 1,000 points in his college basketball career.  He now has 1,004
•    20 – 0: Dayton’s lead guards (Javon Bennett, Malachi Smith, Posh Alexander) had 20 assists on the contest while not committing a single turnover.  Smith had nine, Bennett had six and Alexander added five.
•    5: Five former UD athletes: Jordan Benjamin (tennis), Ashley Campbell (soccer),  Zack Cline (football), Scoochie Smith (basketball) and Nicole Waters (soccer) got inducted into UD’s Hall of Fame during halftime

UP NEXT
•    The Flyers are back in action as they host Marquette on Saturday, December 14th at UD Arena
•    Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS