Fresh off another undefeated week, No. 16 Dayton looks to continue its dominance over the Atlantic 10 Conference when it heads to Philadelphia to take on La Salle on Tuesday night.
Dayton (15-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10) won its 12th straight game Saturday, blowing out Rhode Island 96-62 at home. The Flyers are riding their longest winning streak since a 20-game run in 2020.
After jumping out to an 11-0 lead, Dayton never trailed against the Rams, and the Flyers had the luxury of resting their star, DaRon Holmes II, for most of the second half.
In just 24 minutes, Holmes scored 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor, while Javon Bennett led the way with 22 points, including four 3-pointers — one game after his 1-for-8 3-point shooting performance.
“Shooters shoot,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said of Bennett. “I think he has a lot of confidence. We have a lot of confidence in him, and we knew it was just a matter of time before he saw the ball go in. Javon demonstrates the resiliency and understanding that on nights when shots aren’t falling, you can impact the game in a major way, and he’s done that throughout the season.”
Koby Brea is a Dayton sharpshooter who has seen shots fall all season. The junior connected on 5 of 7 3-pointers against Rhode Island, adding to his NCAA-leading 3-point percentage (49.5).
As a team, the Flyers shoot 40.8 percent from deep, good for third best in the nation.
Holmes leads the conference at 19.5 points per game, and ranks third in rebounding, grabbing 7.6 boards per contest.
Nate Santos (11.4 points per game) and Brea (11.1) also have scoring averages in double figures.
After an 8-2 start to the season, La Salle (10-8, 1-4) has seen its offense go cold in conference play. The Explorers have managed to score at least 70 points just once in their first five Atlantic 10 games.
Tuesday’s meeting with Dayton presents a daunting task for La Salle, as the Flyers’ defense allows just 64.4 points per game, tied for fewest in the conference.
The Explorers have enjoyed a seven-day break, last playing on Jan. 15, when they lost 82-62 to Saint Joseph’s on the road. La Salle was behind early and often against the Hawks, trailing 19-2 in the opening minutes.
“We put ourselves in a hole, which didn’t help us,” Explorers coach Fran Dunphy said. “We fought back and cut it to 13 at the end of the half, and got it to nine at one point. We needed to make great decisions at that stretch and probably didn’t. We had some plays we got to do a better job on.”
Khalil Brantley paces the Explorers with 14.9 points per game, followed by Jhamir Brickus’ 14.4. Daeshon Shepherd averages a team-high 6.2 rebounds per contest to go along with 10.2 points.
The teams met on Feb. 28 of last season, with Dayton winning 77-53. La Salle had taken the two previous meetings.
–Field Level Media
