BRONX, N.Y. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team had its offense clicking on all cylinders on Wednesday night, beating Fordham 93-76 in Atlantic 10 action at Rose Hill Gym.
 
Redshirt junior Malachi Smith led five Flyers in double-figures with 18 points on the night, shooting 7-11 from the floor, 3-3 from the three-point line, and adding five assists and three steals. Junior Javon Bennett scored 16 points, while graduate redshirt Zed Key and senior Enoch Cheeks each had 14 and freshman Amaël L'Etang added 11.
 
Dayton shot a blistering 52.8 percent (28-53) from the floor, including 50 percent (11-22) from beyond the arc. The Flyers also connected on 80 percent (24-30) of their free throws in the contest.

First Half – Dayton 48, Fordham 48

• Freshman Amaël L'Etang scored the first seven points of the game for Dayton, connecting on a three-pointer, cashing in on a pair of free throws, and making a layup.
• Senior Nate Santos drained a three-pointer to give UD a 10-5 advantage at 17:04.
• The Flyers pushed their lead to seven at 17-10 when redshirt senior Posh Alexander drained a three at 13:27.
• A pair of free throws from senior Enoch Cheeks gave the Flyers their biggest lead of the half at 19-10.
• L'Etang stopped a 4-0 run from the Rams with a 4-0 spurt of his own, making a layup and two free throws to give UD a 23-14 advantage.
• The two sides traded punches when a three from junior Jacob Conner at 9:01 gave Dayton a five-point cushion.
• A Zed Key old-fashioned three-point play at 5:24 erased the Flyers' first deficit of the night and gave them a 33-32 lead.
• The offense continued to dominate play as the sides traded baskets down the stretch.
• UD got two free throws from Key and a layup from redshirt junior Malachi Smith to pull ahead 38-37 with 4:03 to go.
• Junior Javon Bennett drilled a three to bring the score back within one at 45-44.
• After a free throw from Smith tied the score, Bennett made another triple to bring the Flyers to their first-half total of 48.

Second Half – Dayton 91, Fordham 74

• Bennett started the second half where he left off the first, burying a jumper to give Dayton a 50-48 lead.
• Five straight points for Smith gave Dayton a 55-50 lead.
• Smith hit another layup at 15:52 to make the score 57-55 and ultimately put Dayton ahead for good.
• Smith made it 10 consecutive points with another three-pointer at 15:22.
• Alexander, Dayton's other Bronx native, scored five consecutive points, including a three-pointer to push the Flyers' lead to double-digits at 9:48, 70-60.
• Santos made a layup at 8:45 to give UD a 72-62 advantage.
• Cheeks tallied six straight points and then assisted on a dagger three from Bennett at 3:09 to put Dayton ahead 83-70.
• Smith made his third three of the night at 2:14 to push UD's lead to 86-72.
• Cheeks converted on an and-one with 1:39 to go to put the Flyers ahead 89-72.
• Bennett finished through traffic to put UD ahead 91-72 with just 1:21 to go.
• Cheeks finished the night's scoring with a layup with under a minute to play.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 9 – games this season that the Flyers have scored at least 40 points in the first half.
• 25 – combined second-half points for Malachi Smith (13) and Enoch Cheeks (12).
• 20 – point difference in scoring for Fordham from the first half (48) to the second half (28).
• 18 – points for Bronx native Malachi Smith to lead the Flyers.
• 18 – points off turnovers for Dayton in the contest.
• 15 – turnovers forced by the Flyers.
• 16 – points for Javon Bennett, his 13th double-digit performance this season and fourth consecutive.
• 12 – fast break points for UD, out-pacing the Rams by eight.
• 5 – turnovers by Dayton in the contest, its second-best performance this season.
• 27 – combined points by Flyer post players Zed Key, Amaël L'Etang and Isaac Jack

 
UP NEXT

• The Flyers return home to UD Arena to take on Duquesne on Saturday.
• Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on USA Network.