DAYTON - The University of Dayton men's basketball team fell behind early in the National Invitational Tournament quarterfinal and never recovered despite a late rally, falling 61-55 to Illinois State on Wednesday night at UD Arena.
 
The loss ends the collegiate careers of Javon Bennett, Jacob Conner, Jordan Derkack, and Keonte Jones.
 
The Redbirds (23-12) started the game with a 10-0 run and just as the Flyers (25-12) cut the deficit to single digits, Bennett went down with an injury that kept him out the rest of the game. UD mounted a rally in the second half, going on a 14-0 run and holding Illinois State scoreless for over eight minutes, but it was not enough to get over the early deficit.
 
Sophomore Bryce Heard led Dayton with 12 points, while Derkack added 11 and sophomore Amaël L'Etang added 10.
 
Dayton's offense struggled from the floor, shooting just 30.2% (19-of-63) overall and 12% (3-of-25) from beyond the arc. Illinois State, meanwhile, was an impressive 55.0% (22-of-40) from the floor and 37.5% (6-of-16) from three. 
  
GAME RECAP
 
First Half – Illinois State 33, Dayton 23

• Junior Deshayne Montgomery opened up Dayton's scoring and sparked a 6-0 run for the Flyers with a driving lay-up, leaving 14:50 on the clock.  
• Senior Jordan Derkack converted off a turnover with 14:33 left to bring the score to 13-4.
• Montgomery hit a lay-up with ease just seconds after his first to bring the score to 13-6.
• Sophomore Amaël L'Etang scored a layup in the paint, bringing the score to 17-8, Redbirds. 
• Graduate student Keonte Jones with a made layup at 11:29, brought Flyer nation to their feet, for a score of 17-10 in favor of Illinois State.
• Sophomore Bryce Heard secured an offensive rebound before scoring a tip-in lay-up to help close the score gap at 19-12.
• Closing the Redbirds lead to 19-14, Freshman Malcolm Thomas made a second-chance layup in the paint with 9:48 left. 
• Derkack hit a contested second chance lay-up with just over five minutes left to play, to put two more points up for the Flyers. 
• With 4:56 remaining in the first half Freshman Damon Friery checked into the game and immediately contributed at the line with two good free throws.
• On a fast break off a Redbird turnover, Jones drove in the paint  and sank a dunk, bringing the score to 33-20 with 3:59 left in the first half.
• Assisted by Friery, L'Etang swished a wide-open three-pointer for the Flyers with just under two minutes of play remaining in the first half. 
• The Flyers kept the Redbirds from scoring for the final 4:33 of the first half

 
Second Half – Dayton 55, Illinois State 61

• Montgomery kicked off scoring for the second half with a tip-in lay-up for the Flyers at 19:16.
• With three seconds left on the shot clock, Jones scored a second chance layup bringing the score to 36-27 with 18:20 left. 
• Jones stole the ball from the Redbirds, leading to a fast-break layup to tighten the lead to 38-29, Redbirds.   
• Heard, at the line, hit 2 of 2 free-throws to put the game at 49-32, Redbirds, with 12:16 on the clock. 
• L'Etang slammed in a dunk at 10:05, bringing energy back to the arena. 51-34, Redbirds lead.
• Assisted by Senior Jacob Conner, Friery made a jumper in the paint with 8:08 left in the second half. 53-37, Redbirds. 
• Heard for three took the Flyers to 40 points with 6:26 on the clock. 
• Heard with two more points for Dayton, making two good free-throws at 3:50. 
• Derkack with a layup made in the paint, bringing Flyer fans to their feet with 3:19 left in regulation. 53-45, Redbirds.
• L'Etang made the arena roar with a three-pointer at 2:26 to close the gap between the Flyers and Redbirds to just five points.
• Derkack with a second-chance basket in the paint brought the score to 55-50, Redbirds, with 1:37 left in the second half. 
• Less than a minute later, Derkack stepped to the line, making two of two free-throws. The Redbirds lead by five points with just under a minute left in the game. 
• Despite a 20-8 scoring run by Dayton in the last eight minutes, the Flyers were unable to make a comeback against the Redbirds.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6 – Rebounds for Jordan Derkack and Amaël L'Etang to lead the Flyers.
7 – Free throws for Bryce Heard, who was a perfect 7-for-7.
8 – Steals for Dayton, with Keonte Jones led the way with four.
9 – Minutes played by senior Javon Bennett after suffering an injury early in the first half.
15 – Minutes for Freshman Damon Friery, his highest of the season.
21 – Second-chance points for the Flyers.
30 – Bench points for the Flyers with, with Heard leading all Dayton scoring with 12.
 
The Flyers finish the 2025-26 season with a record of 25-12.