PHILADELPHIA – The University of Dayton men's basketball team could not overcome a sluggish start, ultimately coming up short at La Salle on Wednesday, Jan. 21, by a final score of 67-64 at John E. Glaser Arena.
 
The Flyers (14-5, 5-1 A-10) trailed by as many as 25 in the first half before chipping away at the deficit. La Salle (7-13, 3-4 A019) shot a blistering .591 in the opening half to carry the load early, then made five-of-six free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
 
Senior Keonte Jones led the Flyers with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double, with 12 of his points coming in the second half. Fellow senior Javon Bennett finished with 11 and sophomore Bryce Heard had 10.
 
UD shot .444 for the game while La Salle shot .447. The Explorers shot a blistering .591 in the first half, the highest first-half percentage for an opponent this season. The Flyers shot just 3-of-23 from beyond the arc in the game.
 
GAME RECAP
 
1st Half – La Salle 40, Dayton 29

• A pair of free throws from sophomore Bryce Heard got Dayton on the board first.
• La Salle inched out to an early 8-4 lead at the 16:00 mark thanks to a pair of second-chance opportunities.
• Back-to-back buckets by Javon Bennett brought the Flyers to within seven at 15-8.
• A basket by De'Shayne Montgomery stopped a five-minute scoring drought.
• Senior Jacob Conner sparked a 9-2 run with a triple, while Heard and Bennett added buckets to bring the Flyers back to 36-19.
• An alley-oop from Jaiun Simon to Heard brought Dayton to within 15 at 37-22 with 3:13 to go.
• A fancy finish by Conner with :33 to play in the half brought the score to its halftime tally of 40-29.

 
2nd Half– Dayton 71, La Salle

• Simon got UD on the board first to start the second half with a two-point bucket.
• Bennett connected on his first three to make it a 45-34 game with 17:06 to go.
• Back-to-back buckets by Simon and Heard brought Dayton within single-digits at 46-38, forcing the Explorers to take a timeout.
• Conner posterized the Explorer defender to make it a 54-45 game with 12:52 remaining.
• Montgomery drilled a three from the top of the key to cut it to a 56-48 game with 12:12 to go.
• A basket by Keonte Jones with 6:52 remaining got the Flyers back within two, 58-56.
• Jones added a dunk for the Flyers' next basket, keeping the game at a two-point deficit, 60-58.
• Jones made it a personal 8-0 run by finishing through contact and making it a two-point game once again, 62-60.
• After La Salle made three free throws, Jones flushed a put-back dunk to make it a 65-62 game with 2:07 to go.
• Jones made a pair of free throws with just :26.6 remaining to make it a one-point game, 65-64.
• Dayton's final attempt from downtown rattled in and out

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 59.1 – shooting percentage for La Salle in the first half, a high for a Flyer opponent in the first half this season.
• 14 – points scored by Keonte Jones while also pulling down 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Flyer.
• 13 – turnovers by UD, its most in a game in A-10 action.
• 10 – consecutive double-digit scoring outputs for senior Javon Bennett, who had
• 9 – points for both junior De'Shayne Montgomery and redshirt sophomore Jaiun Simon.
• 5 – assists for Bennett, a high in Atlantic 10 play.

 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will stay in Philadelphia and take on Saint Joseph's on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. at Hagan Arena. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

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