Dayton freshman forward Damon Friery committed a foul with 15 seconds to play, putting Evan van der Plas at the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity. His miss was the sixth for the team, and it caused the student section to erupt with joy.
The rest of the crowd of 13,407 — the 78th straight sellout at UD Arena — cheered, too. Seconds later, the Flyers dribbled out the clock in the most lopsided season-opening result since a 109-69 victory against Illinois State on Nov. 23, 1990.
The Flyers extended their winning streak on the opening night of the season to 21 games.
“Excited to get the season underway and to start the journey with this group,” said Dayton coach Anthony Grant, who improved to 173-83 in nine seasons, “and I thought the guys did a really good job today. We didn’t have a lot of information on Canisius. I thought our guys did a really good job of locking in to our principles in the way that we want to play our defense. That created offense for us, got us out in transition and created the tempo that we wanted, and then the guys offensively did a really good job of attacking and being efficient.”
Here are three takeaways from the first of 31 regular-season games:
Credit: David Jablonski
1: A key player returned: Senior guard Jordan Derkack, a transfer from Rutgers, played 16 minutes after missing both exhibition games with an injury. He scored three points, all at the free-throw line, and tallied four assists and three steals.
Grant said Derkack, who also missed most of the offseason practice period after undergoing foot surgery in June, practiced two or three times before the opener.
“Really happy for Jordan,” Grant said. “He’s worked really hard. He’s obviously been dealing with a lot of different injuries coming his way, so to see him out there with a smile on his face and the excitement that he had just to be out there with his teammates and competing again, I know he’s really excited, and we’re excited that he’s available.”
Derkack brought the ball up the court when starting point guard Javon Bennett was not in the game. That likely would have been the role sophomore guard Adam Njie Jr. would have played, but he remains sidelined by an eligibility issue.
“(Derkack’s) a versatile guy,” Grant said. “You can play him in a variety of different roles, and we plan to do that.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Dayton led from start to finish: Bennett, Dayton’s top returning scorer, made nearly identical layups on Dayton’s first two possessions as the Flyers built a 4-0 lead. They shot 63.3% (19 of 30) in the first half and were almost perfect (15 of 17) on 2-point field-goal attempts, building a 51-27 halftime lead.
Dayton’s offense slumped in the first 11 minutes of the second half, scoring 13 points, but picked up the scoring pace in the last nine minutes.
Bennett finished with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Sophomore forward Amaël L’Etang had 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Georgia transfer De’Shayne Montgomery, a junior guard, scored 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting. He made 7 of 8 free throws.
Dayton made 28 of 41 free throws (68.3%) and outscored Canisius by 23 points at the line.
Eleven players scored for Dayton — all 10 available scholarship players plus walk-on Evan Dickey.
Freshman Damon Friery and Villanova transfer Malcolm Thomas scored their first career college points at the foul line. Both made 3 of 4 free throws.
“It was good,” Bennett said. “It was what we expected. We wanted to dominate, and I feel like we did that. I think from the jump, we kind of imposed our will and that carried us throughout the game. So I’m excited for what’s to come.”
3: Defense led to offense: Canisius committed 19 turnovers to Dayton’s four. The Flyers scored 28 points off turnovers.
Montgomery tallied six of Dayton’s 12 steals.
“I thought the guys really played as a unit on both sides of the ball,” Grant said. “It’s a great way to start the season.”
NEXT GAME
Maryland, Baltimore County at Dayton, 2 p.m. Saturday, Fanduel Sports Network Ohio, WHIO Radio
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