Malachi Smith earns first career start for Dayton Flyers

Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant made his second starting lineup change of the week Saturday, replacing second-year guard Kobe Elvis with freshman guard Malachi Smith for a 2 p.m. game against Austin Peay.

On Wednesday, in Dayton’s 78-59 loss to Lipscomb, fourth-year guard Elijah Weaver took the starting spot Koby Brea had in the first game.

Smith is averaging 7.0 points in 21.3 minutes per game and has five assists. Elvis is averaging 6.3 points in 25 minutes per game and has three assists.

Smith has seen minutes climb in each game: from nine to 25 to 31. He scored a career-high 11 points against Lipscomb.

Toumani Camara, DaRon Holmes II and R.J. Blakney will start their fourth straight games Saturday as Dayton tries to stop a two-game losing streak.

Dayton hasn’t lost three straight games since November 2019. It hasn’t played three straight games at home and lost all three since January 1995.

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About the Author

David Jablonski

David Jablonski covers the Dayton Flyers and other sports for the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal News.