DAYTON – The University of Dayton men's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season Saturday afternoon, falling 64-61 to Liberty at UD Arena. 
 
The Flyers (9-4) led for the entire first half until the Flames (8-3) took the lead three and a half minutes into the second, then held on until the final buzzer sounded. 
 
Sophomore Amaël L'Etang led the Flyers with a career-best 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting. Senior Javon Bennett was the only other Flyer to score in double figures as he recorded 17 points, while fellow senior Keonte Jones contributed 15 rebounds, the most any Flyer has recorded in a single game this season, and a team-high four assists. 
 
GAME RECAP
First Half – Dayton 33, Liberty 29

• Amaël L'etang got things going for UD, scoring the team's first five points via a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer off of an assist from Jordan Dercack. 
• L'Etang's second triple of the game also came from a Dercack assist, giving the Flyers a 10-7 lead with 16:18 left in the half. 
• Javon Bennett got himself in the scoring column with a mid-range floater, putting Dayton up by three at 12-9. 
• After Liberty knotted the score at 12, Bennett knocked down a corner three to push the Flyers back in front.
• On the next possession, Bryce Heard hit his first shot of the game, a wing three-pointer, giving UD an 18-12 advantage with 13 minutes left on the clock. 
• L'Etang got himself in double figures early as he pump-faked in the corner and drove to the rim for a dunk, giving Dayton a 22-16 lead with 9:30 left in the first period. 
• Dercack then finished off the next possession with a drive to the basket and a layup through contact, pushing the lead to eight. 
• Keonte Jones then put back an offensive rebound to give UD their largest lead of the game at 26-16 with eight minutes on the clock. 
• Bennett knocked down another triple out of the media timeout, pushing the Flyer lead back to 10 at 29-19.
• Six unanswered points from the Flames saw them draw back within four until the Flyers broke their scoring drought with L'Etang and Jones each knocking down one of two attempts from the charity stripe to get the lead back to six. 
• Liberty would eventually cut the lead to two at 31-29, but a L'Etang floater with 12 seconds left on the clock would end the six and a half minute field goal drought and make it a four-point advantage for UD at the break. 

Second Half – Dayton 61, Liberty 64

• L'Etang stayed hot to start the second half, hitting a corner three off of another Dercack assist to open the scoring. 
• A 13-0 run from Liberty saw them jump ahead 42-37 until Sean Poudet, making his Flyer debut, finished a strong drive to the basket to bring the Flyers back within three at the 14-minute mark. 
• After a response from the Flames, Jacob Conner knocked down a three to make the score 42-44 with 13:35 left to play. 
• Another Liberty response put the deficit back at four, but Bennett finished off a move in the post to make it a one-score game once again.
• Five unanswered points from the Flames saw them pull ahead 44-51, but Bryce Heard's mid-range jumper brought it back within five. 
• Jones then grabbed a steal and took it the distance for a slam to make it a one-possession game at 48-51 with 8:30 left to play.
• A pair of free throws put Liberty back ahead by five, but L'Etang hit a three to make the score 51-53 with 7:24 left to play. 
• The Flames would respond with a three of their own, but Bennett turned around and knocked down his own response triple to cut it back down to two with just under six minutes remaining. Bennett would then tie the game at 56 with a pair of free throws on the next possession.
• Jones gave the Flyers the lead back as he finished through a foul and converted the and-one opportunity to put UD ahead 61-58 with 2:28 left. 
• Liberty then hit a three-pointer of their own to tie it back up, and would capitalize on the Flyers' two-minute scoring drought by taking a one-point lead on a free throw. They would push their lead to three on a layup with 12 seconds left to play. That would prove decisive as the Flyers came up short on the other end. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 4 – Amaël L'Etang made four three-pointers, a new career-high for the sophomore.
• 11 – The Flyers grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the game. It is their sixth game this season with double-digit boards on the offensive glass. 
• 12 – Freshman Sean Poudet played 12 minutes in his first game in a Dayton uniform, making his only field goal attempt. He is the first No. 50 to score for the Flyers since Ralph Hill during the 2011-12 campaign.
• 15 – Keonte Jones grabbed 15 rebounds in the game, his best as a Flyer and the highest single-game total for any UD player this season. 
• 6 – turnovers in the game for Liberty, the first single-digit turnover performance for a UD opponent this season.

 
UP NEXT
The Flyers return to UD Arena, the Epicenter of College Basketball, on New Year's Eve when they kick off the Atlantic 10 campaign. Dayton hosts Fordham on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. 

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