Dayton escapes with victory against upset-minded UMBC

What it means: Dayton (2-0) won its 28th straight non-conference home game. It has not lost a non-conference game at UD Arena since losing three in a row to UMass Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay early in the 2021-22 season. None of those teams ranked as low as No. 299 UMBC does now in the Ken Pomeroy ratings.

UMBC (1-1) fell short of an upset that would have reminded everyone of its victory as a No. 16 seed against No. 1 seed Virginia in the 2018 NCAA tournament.

Star of the game: Javon Bennett led Dayton with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting. He had seven assists and no turnovers in 36 minutes.

All five Dayton starters scored in double figures. Keonte Jones scored 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

Stat of the game: Dayton outscored UMBC by 11 points at the free-throw line. The Flyers made 19 of 24. UMBC made 8 of 10.

Hot shooters: The Terriers came close to the upset by making 11 of 26 3-pointers, including 6 of 12 in the second half. Dayton shot 31.6% (6 of 19) from long range.

Turning point: The game was tied at 59 with 8 minutes, 18 seconds to play. Dayton scored five straight points on a basket by Jones and a 3-pointer by Amaël L’Etang. The Flyers led the rest of the way.

Key play: UMBC cut Dayton’s lead to 73-71 at the 1:04 mark on a 3 by DJ Armstrong Jr. On the next possession, Dayton grabbed two offensive rebounds. UMBC was forced to foul Bennett to stop the clock with 22 seconds remaining.

Bennett made both free throws. De’Shayne Montgomery then made 2 of 2 free throws with 3 seconds to play, clinching the victory.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Cincinnati (2-0) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at UC’s Fifth Third Arena.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton led by as many as 12 points in the first half but saw the advantage dwindle to 41-37 at halftime as UMBC made seven of its last eight shots in the first half.

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

Key players: L’Etang and Jones each scored eight points for Dayton in the half.

Ace Valentine and Jose Roberto Tanchyn each had nine for UMBC.

Key stat: Dayton made 4 of 10 3-pointers. UMBC made 5 of 14.

Largest lead: Dayton led 27-15 after a dunk by De’Shayne Montgomery with 8 minutes, 15 seconds to play. UMBC made four 3-pointers the rest of the way to cut into the deficit.