By Malcolm Price
3 19 2025
GAME NOTES
https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2025/3/17/Florida_Atlantic.pdf
NIT WEBSITE
https://daytonflyers.com/news/2025/3/17/nit.org
NIT GAME PROGRAM
https://www.ncaa.com/nit-game-program
DAYTON — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will travel to Boca Raton, Fla. to meet Florida Atlantic in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday. Game time is 7 p.m. ET.
The game will be a homecoming of sorts for Flyer coach Anthony Grant. Grant is a 1983 graduate of Miami Senior High School, where he played for South Florida coaching legend Marcos “Shakey” Rodriguez. Grant’s coaching career also started at Miami Senior, after he graduated from Dayton in 1987 after a four-year playing career for the Flyers.
UD, 22-10 overall, was third in the Atlantic 10 with a 12-6 record. FAU is 18-15. The Owls were 10-8 in the American Athletic Conference, which placed them tied for fifth.
The Flyers are playing in their 28th NIT. Dayton has a 41-25 record in the tournament and has three NIT championships — 1962, 1968 and 2010.
The Flyers came from 15 down to force overtime, but fell 73-68 to Saint Joseph’s in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament last Friday. Javon Bennett and Amaël L’Etang led the way with 15 points. Nate Santos had a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Malachi Smith added 11 points. L’Etang also had a career-best four blocks.
The Florida Atlantic game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio, televised on ESPN2, and streamed on ESPN+. Streaming audio, video and live stats will be at DaytonFlyers.com.
#TRENDING
• Nate Santos was named Second Team All-Atlantic 10 and A-10 All-Academic, Enoch Cheeks was named Third Team All-Atlantic 10 and A-10 All-Defensive Team; and Amaël
• L’Etang was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team on Tuesday.
• L’Etang is the seventh Anthony Grant recruit (in eight seasons) to be named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team.
• This is also the seventh consecutive year that Dayton has had at least two players named All-Atlantic 10.
• Santos’ 6-for-6 shooting performance from deep against Lehigh is the second-best in D-I. It is also the third-best ever at UD, behind Shawn Haugh’s 8-for-8 in 1993-94.
• Posh Alexander is one of three active players who have 1,500 career points, 500 career assists and 250 steals (1,503, 610, 293 respectively).
• The Dayton roster includes six players who have earned all-conference recognition in their careers – Nate Santos (A-10), Enoch Cheeks (Horizon & A-10). Javon Bennett (NEC) ), Malachi Smith (A-10), Posh Alexander (Big East) and Amaël L’Etang(A-10).
• Amaël L’Etang was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week on Nov. 25, Jan. 25 and Feb. 10. He averaged 8.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg in the latest, with a 13/13 double-double vs. Davidson.
• Cheeks was named the A-10 Player of the Week on Dec. 2 after averaging 15.7 points and 7.0 rebounds against North Carolina, Iowa State and UConn in Maui.
• Cheeks is 11th in the A-10 in rebounding (6.4), fourth in steals (1.8), and 14th in FG% (.471, 139-295). Of the top 15 A-10 rebounders, he at 6-foot-3 is the shortest.
• Santos is 18th in the A-10 in scoring (14.1) and third in 3-pt. FG% (.423, 66-156).
• Smith is second in the A-10 in assists (5.3) and is third in A/T ratio (2.6).
• Bennett is ninth in steals (1.5) and 18th in 3-pt. FG% (.368, 60-163).
• Zed Key 12th in blocked shots (1.1). He is tied for 28th in D-I for most dunks (49).
• As a team, Dayton is first in the Atlantic 10 in 3-pt. FG% (.355, 258-726), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.45), and third in FT% (.746, 510-684) and turnover margin (1.44).
• This is the Flyers’ 30th season in the Atlantic 10, and UD won its 300th A-10 game on Jan. 21 at Duquesne.
• UD ranked 20th in average attendance in NCAA Division I last season, averaging a capacity crowd of 13,407 fans a game in 2023-24. Of schools in the top 25 in attendance, only Kansas, Purdue, Michigan State and UConn also sold out every game of the season.
• Dayton sold out every game for the again in 2024-25. This will be the fourth consecutive year UD has sold out every home game. That streak is now 77 games.
• This is also the 55th anniversary season of UD Arena. The Arena underwent a $76.2 million transformation project that was completed in time for the 2019-20 season.
• The Flyers are wearing “DJD” on their left shoulder strap in memory of Don Donoher. Coach Donoher died last April at the age of 92. He was the first man to coach his alma mater in the NCAA tournament after appearing in it as a player. A member of the NABC College Basketball Hall of Fame, he is Dayton’s all-time winningest coach (437 wins). He was the 2017 winner of the USBWA’s Dean Smith Award.
UP NEXT
• Wednesday’s winner will play the winner between Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee on either March 22 or 23.
COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS
