Dayton beats Loyola Chicago on basket by Bennett in final seconds

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (11-4, 2-0) improved to 2-2 at Gentile Arena in the last four seasons, ending a two-game losing streak against the Ramblers on their home court.

This was the second time in the last two seasons Dayton has beaten Loyola on a last-second shot. At UD Arena last season, Dayton won 83-81 in overtime when Amaël L’Etang caught a 55-foot alley-oop pass from Malachi Smith and made a go-ahead layup with 0.2 seconds to play.

Loyola Chicago (5-10, 1-1) saw a two-game winning streak end.

Star of the game: Bennett scored 24 points on 7-of-18 shooting. He made 3 of 9 3-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 21 of 25 free throws. Loyola made 3 of 5.

Winning basket: Loyola tied the game on two free throws by Kymany Houinsou with 8 seconds to play. He missed his second free throw but got a second chance after a lane violation against Dayton.

Dayton dribbled the ball past halfcourt and called timeout with 5.5 seconds remaining. Bennett took the inbounds pass from Jacob Conner, dribbled into the lane and lofted a high-arcing shot over 6-10 Loyola forward Miles Rubin. He banked the shot off the glass.

Comeback: Dayton trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and trailed for double digits for most of the second half. Bennett started the comeback with a 3-pointer at the 6:09 mark.

Then De’Shayne Montgomery, who tallied 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, scored six straight points.

Bennett tied the game at 63-63 with 3:38 to play, capping an 11-0 run.

Big free throws: Before his winning shot, Bennett made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays George Washington (11-4, 2-0) at 8 p.m. Tuesday at UD Arena. The Revolutionaires won 77-55 at La Salle on Saturday.

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton scored the last seven points of the first half to cut into a 15-point deficit and trailed Loyola Chicago 39-31 at halftime .

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Chicago native Bryce Heard led Dayton with nine points off the bench. He made 2 of 4 field goals and 4 of 4 free throws.

Kayde Dotson made 3 of 4 3-pointers and scored 11 points for Loyola.

Key stat: Dayton shot 31% (5 of 16) from 3-point range. Loyola shot 39% (7 of 18).

Big run: Dayton led 15-13 after a 3-pointer by Jacob Conner at the 11:11 mark. Loyola outscored Dayton 13-0 over the next four minutes.

Long drought: Dayton missed eight straight shots after the 3 by Conner. Heard scored four points at the line during that stretch.

Lineup news: Amaël L’Etang (lower-body injury) and Malcolm Thomas (ankle) missed their second straight game with injuries.