By Malcolm Price

3 14 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team’s comeback attempt came up short on Friday night, as the Flyers fell in overtime to Saint Joseph’s, 73-68, in the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinal at Capital One Arena.

Dayton trailed by eight with just 3:35 to go and erupted for a 10-0 run over just 1:56 to erase the deficit. The Flyers couldn’t hold the lead, however, and the Hawks won the overtime period 13-8.

Junior Javon Bennett and freshman Amaël L’Etang led UD with 15 points each. Senior Nate Santos and redshirt junior Malachi Smith had 14 and 11 respectively. Santos finished the game with a career-high 15 rebounds.

GAME RECAP
First Half — Saint Joseph’s 33, Dayton 24

• A Javon Bennett three-pointer, two free throws and a bucket by Enoch Cheeks and a three by Nate Santos gave UD a 10-5 led at the first media time out five-and-a-half minutes into the game.
• St. Joe’s tied it up 10-10 by the next break with 11:51 left in the half.
• Dayton got a pair of free throws from Amaël L’Etang and a layup from Malachi Smith, but trailed 16-14 with 7:36 to go before halftime.
• SJU went on a 12-2 spurt over the next four minutes, with the only points coming from Zed Key on a put-back slam.
• The Hawks scored 16 points in the first 12-and-a-half minutes of the game, and then scored 17 in the final seven-and-a-half minutes to lead by nine at intermission.

Second Half — Dayton 60, Saint Joseph’s 60

• L’Etang scored Dayton’s first seven points of the half, and a Bennett triple made it a four-point game (41-37) with 16:06 left in regulation.
• A Key layup at the 12:12 mark cut the margin to three (46-43), but neither team scored for almost four minutes until L’Etang knotted the game at 46-46 with a three from the right wing.
• SJU pushed its lead back out to eight (56-48) with 3:35 left), but 10 straight points from four different Flyers gave UD  58-56 lead with 1:47 left.
• Dayton led 60-56, but four free throws in the final 18 seconds by SJU’s Xzayvier Brown sent the game into overtime.

Overtime — Saint Joseph’s 73, Dayton 68

• St. Joe’s scored the first four points of OT.
• Bennett made it a one-points game (64-63 with 1:29 to go.
• But Dayton only had one possession where it could have tied the game or taken the lead as SJU survived and advanced to the tournament semifinals.

BY THE NUMBERS

• 4 — Four Flyers reached double figures in the game — Javon Bennett (15 points), Amaël L’Etang(15),  Nate Santos (14) and Malachi Smith (11)
• 13 — 13 of L’Etang’s points came in the second half
• 4 — L’Etang also blocked four shots, a career high
• 3 — The career-high 15 rebounds gave Santos his third career double-double
• 32 — Dayton outscored St. Joe’s 32-22 in the paint.  In fact, UD held the advantage in points off turnovers (10-7), second-chance points (10-9)and fast break points (17-6).  The game turned at the foul line, where SJU outscored Dayton 20-7

UP NEXT 
The Flyers, 22-10 on the year, will find out their post-season fate on Sunday night.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS