WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team pulled out a thrilling 68-66 road Atlantic 10 victory over George Washington on Friday night at the Charles E. Smith Center.
 
With :13 left on the clock and a one-point lead, senior Keonte Jones locked down the Revolutionaries' offensive attack, blocking the go-ahead attempt and all but sealing the Flyers' fifth straight win.
 
UD (20-9, 11-5 A-10) trailed by two with just :46 seconds remaining, but were able to move ahead thanks to a pair of free throws from Amaël L'Etang with :17 remaining to land the final punch in a back-and-forth battle with GW (16-13, 7-9 A-10).
 
Senior Javon Bennett tied his season-high in scoring with 25 on the night, leading all players, to go along with four assists. Junior De'Shayne Montgomery had 11 points on the night, and L'Etang dropped in 10 with a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the charity stripe.
 
The Flyers shot 48.8% (20-of-41) from the floor for the game and 45.8% (11-of-24) from beyond the arc. George Washington, meanwhile, shot 45.8% (22-of-48) overall and 30% (6-of-20) from the three-point line. The key difference came at the free throw line, where UD connected on 81% (17-of-21) and finished with more makes than GW, who shot 55.2% (16-of-29).

Dayton has now won 20 or more games in each of the last five seasons.
 
GAME RECAP
 
1st Half – Dayton 34, George Washington 31

• Senior Javon Bennett started the game with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put Dayton ahead 6-0 early.
• Bennett knocked down another triple and sophomore Bryce Heard followed with one of his own to put UD up 13-4 with 14:14 to go.
• Redshirt sophomore Jaiun Simon converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make the Flyers' lead 16-4.
• GW got back on the board with a two-point basket, ending a scoring drought over four minutes.
• Senior Jacob Conner knocked down a triple to put UD on top 19-5 with 10:17 to go.
• Sophomore Amaël L'Etang knocked down a pair of free throws to give Dayton a 21-5 advantage.
• Three straight points from the Revolutionaries was answered by a Bennett layup in traffic to put the Flyers up 23-10.
• George Washington used an 8-0 run to climb back into the contest, but Simon converted a contested layup to make it 25-18 with 3:50 to go.
• L'Etang beat a defender and banked home his first field goal of the game with 3:10 remaining in the first half, putting Dayton up 27-20.
• Bennett knocked down another triple with 1:56 to go to give the Flyers a 30-26 lead.
• Back-to-back baskets by junior De'Shayne Montgomery pushed UD ahead 34-27 with :48 to go, but the Revs would finish the half with four points to make it a three-point halftime lead for the Flyers.

 
2nd Half – Dayton 68, George Washington 66

• GW started the half scoring eight of the first 10 points, with the lone basket coming on a three-pointer by senior Keonte Jones.
• Bennett connected on his fifth three of the game to stop the run and put Dayton on top, 40-39 with 14:56 to go.
• Montgomery drained his first triple of the game to re-gain the lead for UD, making it a 43-41 game with 13:47 left.
• After a three from GW, Montgomery answered with another basket from long range to keep the Flyers ahead, 46-44 with 12:53 to go.
• Senior Jordan Derkack scored three consecutive free throws to make it a 49-46 lead with 11:29 remaining.
• The Revolutionaries scored five consecutive points to take the lead, but Bennett finished a layup to tie the score at 51-51 with 10:09 left.
• Another four-point run for George Washington set the Flyers back, but L'Etang connected on a pair of free throws and make it a 55-53 game with 10:09 on the clock.
• Bennett hit yet another three-pointer to put Dayton back in front with 7:11 to go, 56-55.
• L'Etang finished an open layup setup by Bennett to push UD ahead 58-55 with 6:33 remaining.
• GW brought it back to a one-point game when Simon buried a pair from the charity stripe to go back up by three with 5:53 to go.
• Bennett made it a 62-57 game with another pair of free throws.
• Simon added two more for the Flyers to go ahead 64-60 with 2:48 left.
• A quick 4-0 run by GW tied the game at 64-64 with 1:26 to go.
• After the Revs moved ahead with a layup with just :46 to go, Bennett made it a one-point game with :21 left, 66-65, with a free throw.
• George Washington missed a pair from the charity stripe and fouled L'Etang on the rebound attempt, and the sophomore calmly sank two free throws to put UD ahead with :17 remaining.
• That set up the defensive stop by Jones and the Flyers with :04 to go, and Montgomery sank one-of-two from the free throw line to bring the game to its final, 68-66.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 81 – shooting percentage from the free throw line for Dayton compared to just 55.2% for GW
• 44 – combined turnovers for George Washington in two games against UD this season, including 20 tonight.
• 25 – points for Javon Bennett, tying a season-high.
• 23 – double-digit scoring games for De'Shayne Montgomery this season after scoring 11 tonight.
• 18 – consecutive free throws made by Amaël L'Etang, who went a perfect 6-for-6 from the stripe after finishing on a 12-for-12 streak against Saint Louis on Tuesday.
• 5 – consecutive wins for the Flyers, their second five-game winning streak of Atlantic 10 play.
• 4 – Flyers that finished the game with four fouls

 
UP NEXT
Dayton takes its final road trip of the season when it heads to Virginia's capital city to take on Richmond on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. at the Robins Center.