RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team secured a double-bye in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament thanks to a gutsy 79-76 road victory at VCU in A-10 action from the Siegel Center.
 
The Flyers withstood a late surge from the Rams to pull out the victory, with Malachi Smith knocking down a pair of free throws with 5.2 remaining before VCU's last-second attempt rimmed out. Dayton snapped the Rams' nine game-winning streak and handed VCU its lone loss at home this season.
 
Junior Javon Bennett led five Flyers in double-digit scoring, pouring in a UD career-high 22 points. Redshirt junior Malachi Smith had 13 points, while senior Enoch Cheeks finished the night with 12 points, fellow senior Nate Santos had 11, and freshman Amaël L'Etang had 10.
 
Redshirt senior Posh Alexander scored four points on the night, helping him pass the 1,500 career point milestone. He is one of just three active players in NCAA Division I with 1500 points, 500 assists, and 250 steals.
 
First Half – Dayton 28, VCU 27

• Dayton jumped out to an early lead with a pair of three-pointers from Javon Bennett sandwiching a dunk from Amaël L'Etang to put the Flyers ahead 8-0.
• Enoch Cheeks sank a three-pointer of his own to give UD an 11-2 advantage.
• The Flyers scored five straight points on baskets from L'Etang and Posh Alexander, plus a free throw from Jaiun Simon.
• Alexander dropped in a layup at 10:45 to hit the 1,500 career point mark and go ahead 18-9.
• Javon Bennett banked in a three to snap a scoreless drought that lasted over four minutes and put Dayton ahead 21-13.
• Nate Santos grabbed an offensive board and dropped in a put-back to push UD's lead back to seven, 23-16.
• Malachi Smith diced his way through the defense to give Dayton a three-point advantage, 25-22.
• Smith made it five straight points with a three at 1:43 to put the Flyers ahead 28-22.

 
Second Half – Dayton 79, VCU 76

• VCU grabbed its first lead of the game on its first possession of the second half.
• L'Etang knocked down a triple for Dayton's first points of the half to tie the score at 31-31.
• After a bucket from the Rams, L'Etang hit another from long range to inch Dayton ahead 37-35.
• Cheeks flushed a dunk off an assist from L'Etang to go up 39-37.
• L'Etang found Santos underneath for a slam to put UD ahead 41-39
• Zed Key slammed home a put-back dunk to give the Flyers a 43-41 advantage.
• Santos connected on a drive through contact and made the and-one free throw.
• Cheeks brought the Flyer Faithful in attendance to their feet with a poster slam, getting UD within one at 51-50.
• Santos connected on a layup after a hustle play by Bennett kept action alive to tie the score 60-60.
• Key flushed a dunk on a beautiful feed from Santos to give the Flyers a 62-60 advantage.
• Bennett connected on a pair of free throws to put Dayton back up four, 64-60.
• Bennett stole an inbound pass and converted after contact for a layup to make it a six point advantage.
• With the shot clock winding down, Bennett made it eight straight points for UD by connecting on an and-one from downtown.
• Santos gave UD an eight-point advantage at 72-64 with an electrifying slam on a beauty of an assist from Key.
• Dayton connected on 7-8 free throws down the stretch to pull out the win, including two from Smith with five seconds remaining to ice the game.

 
 INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 1,500 – career points for Posh Alexander, who is one of just three active players in NCAA Division I with 1,500 points, 500 assists, and 250 steals (Ace Baldwin Jr. – Penn State; Kadary Richmond – St. John's).
• 87.5 – free throw percentage in the game (14-of-16) for UD.
• 51 -- UD scored 51 points in the second half.  VCU came into the game allowing 62.5 ppg., the top mark in the Atlantic 10
• 38 – points in the paint for UD.
• 22 – points for Javon Bennett, a new high as a Flyer.
• 18 – assists for Dayton in the game, outpacing VCU by 10.
• 14 – made free throws for the Flyers
• 5 – three-pointers made by VCU in the contest, shooting just 17 percent.
• 3 – wins over ranked teams this season for Dayton (VCU is No. 25 in USA Today Coaches Poll).
• 1 – loss at home for VCU this season after Dayton's victory.

 
UP NEXT

• The Flyers head to Washington D.C. for the 2025 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship.
• With tonight's win Dayton secures the No. 3 seed and a double-bye for the A-10 Tournament.
• The Flyers will play their first game in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 14.at 7:30 p.m. ET.