Javon Bennett, No. 21 Dayton overwhelm Rhode Island

Field Level Media|published: Sat 20th January, 14:51 2024

Nov 19, 2023; Charleston, SC, USA; Dayton Flyers guard Javon Bennett (0) brings the ball up court in the second half against the Houston Cougars at TD Arena. credits: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Javon Bennett scored a team-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, leading No. 21 Dayton to a 96-62 victory over visiting Rhode Island on Saturday.

Daron Holmes II added 21 points for the Flyers (15-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10), who won their 12th straight game. Koby Brea collected 15 points on 5-for-7 3-point shooting for Dayton, while Nate Santos chipped in nine points.

Jaden House led Rhode Island (9-9, 3-2) with a game-high 27 points, followed by David Green and Cam Estevez, who each scored eight points. The Rams struggled from the onset, trailing by as many as 24 points in the first half.

The Flyers jumped out to an 11-0 run, capped by a Holmes dunk at the 17:04 mark. Minutes later, another Holmes throwdown pushed the Dayton advantage to 21-7.

After Rhode Island cut the deficit to nine points, Dayton went on a 15-0 run, stretching the lead to 39-15 with 5:37 left in the opening half.

A Brea step-back triple with 37 seconds left set the Dayton halftime lead at 47-27.

Dayton shot 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) on 3-pointers in the first half. Holmes led Dayton's first-half scoring with 14 points, while Bennett poured in 11. Rhode Island's scoring was paced by House's 15. House accounted for five of the Rams' nine field goals in the opening half.

Dayton's sharpshooting continued to begin the second half, as the Flyers opened with an 9-0 scoring run, including a pair of Santos 3-pointers.

The Flyers took their largest lead at the 9:23 mark of the second half, as a pair of Enoch Cheeks free throws gave Dayton a 77-41 lead.

The sold-out UD Arena crowd erupted with 4:22 left, when former walk-on Brady Uhl knocked down a corner triple, just his second made field goal of the season. Three minutes later, Uhl connected on another 3-pointer — the 16th of the game for the Flyers.

Dayton shot 33-for-59 (55.9 percent) from the field and 16-for-27 (59.3 percent) on 3-pointers.

Saturday marked the first game back at Dayton for Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller, who was the Flyers' coach from 2011-17.

—Field Level Media

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