CINCINNATI, Ohio – The No. 22-ranked University of Dayton men's basketball team saw its furious second half comeback fall short against No. 19 Cincinnati on Friday night, falling to the Bearcats 66-59 in the final tune-up of non-conference action at the Heritage Bank Center.
 
The Flyers trailed by as many as 18 points with just 7:37 to go in the contest when the comeback attempt began. UD held UC without a field goal over the final 6:45 of the game, but the Bearcats knocked down 16 of 21 free throws in the second half to pull away in the end.

Senior Nate Santos and redshirt junior Malachi Smith led four Flyers in double-figure scoring, each dropping in 13. Graduate students Zed Key and Posh Alexander both added 11.
 
First Half – Cincinnati 25 Dayton 17

• UC started the game on a 16-4 run and led by as many as 13 in the opening half
• UD's first field goal of the game came at the 8:45 mark when Nate Santos got a put-back layup
• The Flyers cut the deficit to six with 1:20 to go in the half when Posh Alexander dropped in a layup.
• Dayton was unable to connect from beyond the arc in the opening half, going 0-7
• The Bearcats forced the Flyers into 11 turnovers

 
Second Half – Cincinnati 66 Dayton 59

• Cincinnati ballooned its lead to 18 before Dayton's furious comeback began.
• Malachi Smith came alive in the second half, scoring 11 of his 13 points
• Enoch Cheeks connected on a three-pointer at the 18:11 mark to bring UD within six
• UC responded with a 15-8 run over 8:30 to take a 53-35 lead
• An old-fashioned three-point play from Malachi Smith at the 7:18 mark awakened the offense
• The Flyers brought it within four thanks to a 9-2 run that was highlighted by baskets by Zed Key and Posh Alexander, as well as a triple from Smith
• Cincinnati hit five of six free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
93.3 – free throw percentage for the Flyers, who went 14-of-15 from the charity stripe
.362 – field goal percentage for the Bearcats, its lowest mark of the season
24 – both teams scored 24 points in the paint
17 – turnovers by the Flyers in the game, a season-high
8 – assists for Dayton, a season-low
6 – rebounds for both Zed Key and Enoch Cheeks to lead the Flyers
4 – UD had four double-digit scorers (Santos – 13, Smith – 13, Alexander – 10, Key – 10)

UP NEXT
•    The Flyers break for the Christmas holiday and return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 31 for the Atlantic 10 opener against La Salle.
•    The basketball will drop on New Year's Eve at 2 p.m. ET.