PEORIA, Ill. – A monster performance from senior Javon Bennett led the University of Dayton men's basketball team to a rout in the opener of the National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday night, beating Bradley 80-66 at Carver Arena.
 
Bennett finished the game with 25 points while shooting 61.5% (8-of-13), marking his fifth consecutive game with 10+ points and his ninth 20+ scoring performance this season.
 
The Flyers (24-11) advance to the NIT's second round with the win.
 
Bennett's 25 points led four players in double-digit scoring for the game, as he was joined by junior De'Shayne Montgomery with 14, and sophomores Bryce Heard and Amaël L'Etang with 12 and 11, respectively. L'Etang led the Flyers with eight rebounds, while senior Jordan Derkack dished out five assists.
 
Dayton had one of its best shooting performances of the season on the night, shooting 52.1% (25-of-48) from the field and 50% (9-of-18) from beyond the arc. The Flyers also went to the line 25 times and made 21 of them for 84%. Bradley, meanwhile, shot 45.1% (23-of-51) from the floor and 45.5% (10-of-22) from three, but only shot 14 free throws in the contest.

GAME RECAP

First Half – Dayton 47, Bradley 30

• Senior Javon Bennett started the scoring for the Flyers, going on a personal 6-0 run thanks to a pair of three-pointers to put UD ahead 6-2.
• A steal by junior De'Shayne Montgomery led to instant offense on the other side, as a slam put the Flyers up 8-4.
• Graduate student Keonte Jones finished a layup after an offensive rebound to give the Flyers a 10-5 advantage.
• After a pair of free throws from Montgomery, Bennett hit a deep two to put UD ahead 14-7.
• Sophomore Bryce Heard knocked down a triple to give Dayton a 17-9 advantage.
• Sophomore Amaël L'Etang got his first basket of the game put UD up 19-9 with 9:31 to go in the half.
• Redshirt sophomore Jaiun Simon finished a tough shot in the paint to make it a 21-11 game.
• L'Etang beat a defender off the dribble and finished through contact to put Dayton up 23-13.
• Simon made a pair of free throws to keep the Flyers' advantage at 10, 25-15.
• Montgomery buried a corner three to stop a quick 5-0 spurt from Bradley, keeping UD's lead at 28-19 with 5:08 to go.
• After a pair of free throws from L'Etang, an alley-oop from senior Jordan Derkack to Montgomery pushed the Flyers back up by 10, 32-22.
• L'Etang cashed in a three-pointer to put the Flyers up 35-24 with 3:15 left in the half.
• Bennett connected on his third three of the half to make Dayton's advantage 38-27.
• Montgomery was fouled on a three-point attempt and knocked down all three free throws to put the Flyers ahead 41-30.
• Bennett scored the last five points of the half, including an and-one on a three-pointer with three seconds left on the clock to bring the game to its halftime score of 47-30.

Second Half – Dayton 80, Bradley 62

• Dayton's first four points of the half came from the free-throw line, as Jones and Simon each connected on a pair to give the Flyers a 51-33 lead with 17:40 remaining.
• Jones made a tough fadeaway jumper in the paint for the first field goal of the half to make it a 53-33 game.
• Bennett made his fifth three-pointer of the game then made a pair of free throws to put UD up 58-39 game.
• Two free throws from both Derkack and Heard pushed the score to 62-42 with 11:52 to go.
• Heard went on to score nine consecutive points for Dayton, making a three and back-to-back shots in the paint to keep UD's double-digit advantage at 69-51.
• L'Etang finished a tip-in off a missed shot to put the Flyers up 71-55.
• Montgomery flipped a layup in with 5:37 to play to give UD a 73-55 lead.
• Bennett burned by the Bradley defense to score the Flyers' 75^th point, putting Dayton ahead 75-57.
• Jones flushed an alley-oop from Derkack to push the UD lead back to 20 at 77-57 with 3:38 to go.
• Redshirt freshman Malcolm Thomas flushed an alley-oop over a Bradley defender on a lob from Heard to bring the score to its final, 80-62.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
100 – shooting percentage for Bryce Heard, who went 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the three-point line, and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line for 12 points.
50 – percent shooting from beyond the three-point line by Dayton in the game, their third time shooting 50% or better in a game this season.
47 – points scored by the Flyers in the first half, their most scored in a first half since scoring 51 in the season opener against Canisius.
38 – minutes with the lead for UD
21 – free throws made by the Flyers, their 18^th time making 20+ free throws in a game.
11 – 20+ scoring outings for senior Javon Bennett this season after scoring 25.
14 – points for De'Shayne Montgomery, his 27^th 10+ scoring game of the season.
8 – rebounds for Amaël L'Etang to go along with 11 points.
 
UP NEXT
With the win, Dayton advances to the second round of the NIT and will take on UNCW on Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at Trask Coliseum.