Dayton wins at Duquesne despite being without 2 starters

The University of Dayton men’s basketball team played without two starters and a key reserve on Tuesday at Duquesne.

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Dayton had four players finish in double figures to beat the Dukes, 71-65, at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh.

Keonte Jones led UD with 15 points while Javon Bennett finished with 14. De’Shayne Montgomery had 11 points while Jaiun Simon had 10 points.

The Flyers played without starters Amael L’Etang and Jordan Derkack. They were also without reserve forward Malcolm Thomas.

Dayton improves to 13-4 overall, 4-0 in the Atlantic 10.

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Jacob Conner came off the bench to spark with Dayton with a three-pointer and a steal, and a dunk to put UD ahead, 11-6. Damon Friery buried a trey to increase it to 16-8.

Jones had back-to-back baskets to give the Flyers their largest lead, 22-11, with 7:41 left until halftime.

The Dukes cut it to six, 30-24, with 26 seconds left in the first half, but Montgomery nailed a three at the buzzer to give Dayton a 33-24 halftime advantage.

Duquesne opened the second half outscoring UD, 13-3, capped by Tarence Guinyard’s three-pointer to take a 37-36 lead. They led for less than 30 seconds as Bennett’s layup reclaimed the advantage, 38-37.

Sean Poudet came off the bench and scored four points for the Flyers as they led 49-42 with 11:32 remaining. David Dixon made two foul shots for the Dukes to cut it to 49-47.

After Simon made two foul shots, Alex Williams’ trey got Duquesne within one, 51-50. But Bennett buried back-to-back triples to expand UD’s advantage to 57-50.

Simon knocked down back-to-back threes to keep the Flyers’ lead at eight, 63-55. Duquesne scored six straight points to cut it to 63-61 with just over two minutes to play.

Bennett’s jumper increased Dayton’s lead to 65-61. UD sealed the game with six free throws.

Dayton’s next game will be Friday, Jan. 16, when they host Loyola Chicago at the UD Arena. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m.

Pre-game coverage on WHIO Radio begins at 7:30 p.m.

The game will also be carried here at WHIO.com.

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