DAYTON – Junior De'Shayne Montgomery tied a career-high with 27 points to lead the University of Dayton men's basketball team to a sound 88-71 win over East Tennessee State on Tuesday night at UD Arena.

The Flyers (7-2) forced ETSU (6-2) into 22 turnovers in the game, marking the third time UD has forced an opponent into 20+ turnovers this season. Dayton scored 27 points off of those turnovers to help lead the Flyers to their 31st consecutive non-conference home victory. 

Montgomery's 27 points tied a career best set during his freshman season at Mount St. Mary's against Siena. Joining the junior in double-figure scoring was senior Keonte Jones, who set his UD-best with 15 points, while fellow senior Jordan Derkack also set a new personal high as a Flyer with 14. Sophomore Amaël L'Etang finished the night with 10 points.

The Flyers primarily dominated the game, outscoring the Buccaneers by shooting 80 percent from the free throw line, converting 28 points off turnovers, and scoring 40 in the paint. Dayton made more foul shots in tonight's game (28) than the Buccaneers attempted (15).
 

GAME RECAP

First Half – Dayton 46, ETSU 38

• The Flyers and Buccs battled early, trading punches through the first eight minutes of the game.
• ETSU pulled ahead to a five-point advantage through the slog, but UD pulled even thanks to a pair of free throws from De'Shayne Montgomery.
• Montgomery's second free throw put the Flyers ahead for good, as Dayton then jumped ahead with an 11-3 run.
• UD pushed its lead to 10 when redshirt sophomore Jaiun Simon capitalized on a turnover with 7:48 remaining in the first half.
• Jones blocked a shot with authority and brought the ball back into Dayton possession.
• Montgomery escaped defensive pressure and drained a three, giving Dayton a 40-29 advantage with less than five minutes remaining in the first half. 
• ETSU sank a pair of free throws with just over three seconds to go, and Montgomery responded by going coast-to-coast and sinking a layup at the buzzer to make it a 46-38 lead.

Second Half – Dayton 88, ETSU 71

• Dayton saw its lead swell to 19 out of the gate, with the Flyers going on an 11-0 run over the first 4:31 of the half.
• After the Buccs brought their deficit back to 12, Dayton responded thanks to four made free throws from Jordan Derkack, a slam from Keonte Jones and a triple from Montgomery to go back ahead 66-45.
• UD's lead jumped back to 20 on a made free throw Jacob Conner.
• Jones flushed a put-back dunk to put Dayton ahead 76-57 with 4:34 remaining.
• Derkack laid in an alley-oop from Montgomery to put UD ahead 18 with under a minute to go.
• A layup from Jones in the closing moments sealed the win with the final score of Dayton 88, ETSU 71. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 40 – points in the paint for UD
• 27 – points for De'Shayne Montgomery, tying his career high
• 22 – turnovers forced by Dayton, its third 20+ turnover effort this season
• 21 – Largest lead for the Flyers 
• 15 – points for Keonte Jones, who also had five rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks.
• 14 – steals as a team for UD

UP NEXT
The Flyers will hit the road once again to take on Virginia in a neutral-site game on Dec. 6 at 12:00 p.m. at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.