DAYTON – The University of Dayton men's basketball team put together a wire-to-wire victory over Ball State University on Wednesday night, riding a hot first half to a 77-69 win over the Cardinals inside UD Arena.

The Flyer offense was led by Enoch Cheeks and Malachi Smith who each put up a double-double. Cheeks scored 23 points and collected 11 rebounds while Smith scored 17 points and dished out 10 assists.  Dayton remains unbeaten in three games on the year.  This is the first time since 3/25/24 to have two Flyers record double-doubles in the same game.

GAME RECAP
First Half – Dayton 41, Ball State 26

• Graduate student Zed Key got the Flyers on the board early with consecutive slam dunks following a pick-and-roll and a forced turnover from the Cardinals at the 18:51 and 18:31 marks.
• Senior Enoch Cheeks tallied his first points of the night with a clean mid-range pull-up at 17:56, extending Dayton's lead to 6-0.
• Redshirt junior Malachi Smith added to the momentum with a smooth reverse layup, pushing Dayton's lead to 8-0 at 17:20.
• Freshman Amaël L'Etang made his first impact on the scoreboard with a pick-and-roll layup assisted by Smith, furthering the Flyers' advantage to 13-4 at 14:11.
• Smith continued the offensive burst, hitting a three-pointer from beyond the arc off a pass from redshirt senior Posh Alexander, boosting the score to 16-4 at 13:36.
• Junior Jacob Conner kept the Flyers ahead with two free throws, making it 19-4 at the 12:09 mark.
• Following a Cardinals shot clock violation, Key threw down an alley-oop dunk from a Smith assist, extending Dayton's lead to 21-4 at 11:25.
• It was a dunk showcase for Key, who recorded his fourth of the half off a pass from senior Nate Santos to put the Flyers up 23-5 at 10:49.
• After forcing another turnover, Cheeks electrified the crowd with an alley-oop dunk from an Alexander lob at 9:05, keeping Dayton rolling at 25-7.
• Cheeks kept up his strong play with a smooth pull-up jumper, giving the Flyers a 27-11 lead at 6:41.
• Smith added another highlight with a driving baseline layup, securing a 33-15 lead for Dayton at 4:50.
• Sophomore Isaac Jack scored his first points of the season with a lay-in at 4:05.
• Cheeks continued to contribute, sinking a floater in the lane at 3:39 to maintain the Flyers' lead at 37-17. 
• Cheeks scored the last six Flyer points of the half to wind down a dominant Dayton first half performance 41-23

​Second Half – Dayton 77, Ball State 69

• After a Flyer forced turnover, Smith found Cheeks in the corner for a three giving them a 44-28 lead at the 18:55 mark.
• Following his assist, Smith found his way to the rim for a lay-in, marking his 11th point of the night at 17:36. 
• After a scoring drought of 3:45, Santos went coast-to-coast , drew a foul, and capitalized on both free-throw attempts as the Flyers led 50-40 at 13:08.
• The Flyers ended their field goal drought (0-5) at the 11:54 mark, as Alexander found Cheeks in transition for an easy lay regaining an 11 point lead 53-42. 
• The Cardinals offense went on a 7-0 run which was ended by an Alexander transition layup followed by a Jack layup putting the Flyers up 57-48 at 9:23.
• A transition foul by Ball State put Dayton in the bonus at the 8:15 mark and Smith was able to bury both attempts putting them back up 11, 61-50.
• With 7:26 to play, Smith found Cheeks in transition once again for an and-one layup putting the Flyers ahead 64-50.
•  Dayton hit five of their last six attempts putting them on a 10-0 scoring run as they led 67-50 as the 6:03 mark. 
• With 5:28 to play, Smith found Jack for an easy bucket at the hoop for Jack's fifth straight point as the Flyers led 69-52.
• Right before the under four media timeout, Smith continued his strong second half with a three of his own and extended the lead 72-57.
• Cheeks and Smith continued their two-man game all second half as Smith hit Cheeks at the top of the key for a triple and the Flyers led 75-63 at 2:39.
• With 21 seconds to play Smith sealed the deal from the free-throw line as he hit both attempts and the Flyers won 77-69. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• 2 - Malachi Smith and Enoch Cheeks both recorded double-doubles on the night. Smith, 16 points and 10 assists while Cheeks scored 23 and grabbed 11 rebounds.
• 15 - The Flyers defense continues to remain strong as they forced Ball State into 15 turnovers.
• 38-18 - The Flyers outscored Ball State with 38 points in the paint compared to Cardinals 18.
• 11 - Isaac Jack put up 11 big bench points in his first game of the season. 
• 23 - Enoch Cheeks scored his career-high in points with 23 as a Dayton Flyer.
• 49% - Dayton shot 49% from the field making 26 of their 53 attempts.
• 17 - 5  - Dayton was able to secure 17 points off turnovers compared to Cardinals five. 
• 52 - Enoch Cheeks has 52 points after three games this year. It took him nine games to have the same amount of points in 2023-24.
• 5 - Tonight marks the fifth time Malachi Smith had 10+ assists in a game
• 12/18/21 - This was the last time Malachi Smith recorded a double-double in a game tallying 16 points and 11 assists against Ole Miss

UP NEXT

• The Flyers host Capital at UD Arena on Saturday, Nov. 16.
• Tip off is set for 7 p.m. ET.