By Malcolm Price

3 19 2025

BOX SCORE

https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2025/3/19/2640609.PDF

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team came out victorious in the first round of the NIT against the Florida Atlantic Owls Wednesday night. Despite earning the No. 1 seed in their region, the Flyers traveled to Boca Raton to play an away game due to the First Four taking place at UD Arena.

Junior Javon Bennett put on a historic shooting performance.  The Orlando native celebrated his first-ever college appearance in his home state, going 8-of-12 from beyond the arc as he scored a career-high 30 points on the night. His eight made threes are the second most in a single game in program history. Two other Flyers scored in double-digits en route to the victory as Nate Santos dropped 15 and Enoch Cheeks scored 12.

GAME RECAP
First Half — Dayton 44, Florida Atlantic 38

• Cheeks got things started for Dayton, knocking down a corner three on the first possession. Santos then drove inside and finished a reverse layup on the next time down, pushing the Flyers ahead 5-2 early.
• After FAU scored five unanswered points, senior Malachi Smith finished off a strong drive to tie the contest at seven.
• Despite the Owls jumping back in front, Santos brought the score back to even with a layup the next time down the court.
• Sophomore Jacob Conner checked into the game out of the first media timeout and knocked down a triple to give UD a 12-9 advantage.
• After FAU regained the lead two possessions later, Graduate Student Zed Key threw down a slam as the Flyers once again jumped in front.
• The seesaw battle continued when Bennett got his first three points of the game to put Dayton ahead 17-15 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half.
• FAU would make five consecutive field goals to take a 22-18 lead, but back-to-back dunks from Conner and Santos put the score at 25-22 with 9:21 to play.
• Despite a strong offensive showing, the Flyers could not get the deficit within five points at the six-minute mark as FAU made 10 of their last 11 field goal attempts
• Thanks to two baskets from Posh Alexander, one of which was a three, Dayton managed to tie the game at 33 with five minutes left in the half.
• UD held the Owls to a 3:50 scoring drought. Key put the exclamation point on an 8-0 run with a dunk over the top of an FAU defender to give the Flyers a 36-33 lead going into the under-four media timeout.
• The first half continued to go back and forth until Cheeks put Dayton back in front by finishing off a drive for a layup, kicking off a 7-0 run into the break.
•  A Cheeks floater and three Smith free throws in the final minute capped off the run, giving UD a six-point advantage as the first half concluded.

Second Half — Dayton 86, Florida Atlantic 79

• FAU got on the board first in the second period but Bennett responded by knocking down back-to-back triples, his third and fourth of the night, to give the Flyers their largest lead of the contest, 50-40, with 17:15 left.
• Bennett showed off his passing flair for Dayton’s next bucket, throwing up a lob to freshman Amaël L’Etang for a slam.
• Bennett continued his strong shooting night, draining his fifth three-pointer of the game to ignite a 13-2 run, during which he hit his sixth three-pointer to surpass his season-high, as the Flyers jumped out to a 65-46 lead with 12 minutes left to play.
• A seventh three from Bennett, and the seventh consecutive made field goal for Dayton, put UD up by 19 going into the media timeout.
• With just under 10 minutes left to play, Bennett hit his eighth three of the night giving him 18 of Dayton’s 27 points in the second half and extending the lead to 71-53.
• A 7-0 FAU run saw them draw within 10 at the four-minute mark but Santos hit a three with just under three minutes remaining to put the Flyers up 81-68.
• Despite a successful and-one from Bennett, the Flyers only led by seven when they called a timeout with 1:13 to play after back-to-back threes from the Owls.

BY THE NUMBERS

• 3- Three different Flyers recorded multiple steals. Alexander, Conner, and Bennett all had two.
• 8- Bennett’s eight made three-pointers put him second in three-pointers made in a game in school history. Norm Grevey made nine vs. Bradley in 1990-91.
• 3 -Bennett is the third Flyer to drain eight treys.  Shawn Haughn did it against Saint Louis in  1993-94 and Josh Parker hit eight against Fordham in 2010-11.
• 10- Jack saw his first game action since February 15, playing 10 minutes and recording six points on three-for-three shooting
• 11- The first half saw the lead change hands 11 times.
• 30- Bennet’s 30-point outing marks the first time a Flyer has scored 30 points this season.  The last UD player to score 30 or more points was DaRon Holmes II, who had 34 points vs. St. Bonaventure on Feb. 2, 2024

UP NEXT

• Dayton now moves on to the second round of the NIT on the road against Chattanooga on Saturday.
• Tip-off is set for 11:30 a.m. ET

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS