Flyers Soar Past Northwestern Late to Move to 2-0

(Photo via @o.shirkphoto Instagram)

TJ Thompson | Sports Editor

The University of Dayton men’s basketball team defeated its first Power 5 foe of the season in a 71-66 win at home over Northwestern Saturday night.

The Flyers were led by Nate Santos and Enoch Cheeks, each scoring 16 points. Santos did most of his damage from behind the arc, going 3-4. Cheeks was efficient shooting 7-10 from the field, bringing in four rebounds, and dishing out two assists.

Similar to last week, the Flyers started the game off slow and faced a 32-24 halftime deficit. Dayton would turn it around in the second half, erasing that eight-point lead. A huge three from Javon Bennett brought the game to within a point. After a pair of free throws from each team, a thunderous dunk by Cheeks gave the Flyers a 54-52 lead with 7:22 left in the game.

Cheeks would not stop there. The second-year Robert Morris transfer hit a three late in the half to extend the Flyer lead to eight. With just over a minute remaining, the first-year Flyer Zed Key electrified UD Arena with a slam dunk, pushing the lead to 10 and icing the game for the Flyers.

This ended a three-game skid against the Wildcats, bringing the all-time series to an even 3-3. Malachi Smith had 14 points and six assists in his second game back after his season-ending injury last year. Zed Key had 11 points in his second game in a Flyer uniform.

The Flyers shot 24 of 46 from the floor (52.2%) and 8 of 21 from three (38%). While holding the Wildcats to 44.6% shooting from the floor and 25% from three.

Dayton’s next game is at home against Ball State on Wednesday. The Flyers look to stay undefeated in this early college basketball season.