Men's Basketball 1/8/2025 9:08:00 PM

Men's Basketball Stumbles At UMass, Falling 76-72

Flyers Return Home To Face George Mason Wednesday, Jan. 15

Box Score AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team fell in its second consecutive Atlantic 10 game on Wednesday night, coming up short against Massachusetts 76-72 at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.

The Flyers and Minutemen exchanged the lead seven times and had a tie game on six occasions, but it was ultimately UMass pulling away thanks in part to a 19-of-20 shooting performance from the charity stripe.

Senior Nate Santos led the Flyers in scoring with 18 points, while junior Javon Bennett added 17 and redshirt senior Zed Key had 16.

First Half – Dayton 39, Massachusetts 36

Senior Nate Santos got the Flyers on the board first with a layup on the opening possession.
Redshirt senior Posh Alexander pushed UD's lead to a game-high 10 points with a three at 10:36
Santos finished the half with 14 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the floor and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
Santos scored 14 of his 18 in the opening half.
Dayton shot 48 percent (12-of-25) from the floor to start the contest.

Second Half – Massachusetts 76, Dayton 72

The Minutemen used a 7-0 run to start the second half to erase the Flyers' three-point halftime lead.
Santos knocked down a three-point basket at 15:29 to bring the game back within one.
Six consecutive made free throws from junior Javon Bennett (two) and redshirt senior Zed Key (four) put UD back on top.
Bennett knocked one down from beyond the arc at 13:41 to push Dayton's lead to four.
A layup by redshirt freshman Jaiun Simon and free throw make from Alexander gave the Flyers a five-point advantage, their biggest lead of the second half.
UMass went on a 10-2 run over the next 4:19 to build its own five-point lead.
Key connected on a pair of free throws at 3:49 to pull UD within two at 67-65.
UMass pushed its lead back to a game-high of five at 70-65 with 3:26 to go.
Bennett knocked down two free throws to bring Dayton back within a single possession at the 2:23 mark.
Bennett pulled the Flyers back to even with his third three of the night with just 1:50 to go.
The Minutemen outscored Dayton 6-2 over the final 1:48 to win the game.
Dayton shot just 28 percent (7-of-25) from the floor in the second half.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

95 – percent shooting from the free throw line for UMass (19 of 20), a season best for the Minutemen.
28 – free throws made for Dayton on the night, a new season-high.
46 – paint points for Massachusetts.
16 – second-chance points for the Flyers, despite being out-rebounded in the game
3 – Flyers in double figures, with Santos (18), Bennet (17) and Key (16) leading the offense.

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