Men’s Hoops Upset Bid Falls Short Against No. 9 BYU, 83-79 – University of Dayton Athletics

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East Tennessee State

12/2/2025 | 7:00 PM

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Dec. 02 (Tue) / 7:00 PM

 East Tennessee State

History

ORLANDO – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team battled to the end against No. 9 BYU, falling 83-79 to the Cougars in the championship game of the ESPN Events Invitational on Friday night at the State Farm Field House.
 
Dayton (6-2) held a six-point advantage at halftime, but BYU (6-1) used two big second-half runs and withstood a pesky Flyer comeback attempt to take home the victory.
 
Senior Javon Bennett led the Flyers with 22 points, while sophomore Bryce Heard set a new career-high with 16 of his own. Sophomore Amaël L’Etang had 13 points and junior De’Shayne Montgomery finished the night with 11 points and a season-best eight rebounds.
 
GAME RECAP
First Half – Dayton 36, BYU 30

• Dayton jumped ahead early thanks to a layup from Keonte Jones and a three-pointer from De’Shayne Montgomery.
• Sophomore Amaël L’Etang started hot, making back-to-back buckets to put UD ahead 9-3.
• Seniors Jordan Derkack and Javon Bennett hit threes on consecutive offensive possession to put the Flyers ahead 15-6.
• A 9-0 run out of the media timeout for BYU tied the score at 15-15.
• Bennett stopped the run with his second three of the game, putting UD ahead 18-15.
• The Flyers held the Cougars without a field goal for nearly three minutes, but were unable to build the lead beyond three, leading 21-18
• Bennett became a one-man wrecking crew, scoring six straight points and putting the Flyers ahead 33-24.
• Jacob Conner blocked the Cougars’ attempt to score at the buzzer, giving the Flyers a 36-30 advantage going into half.

Second Half – BYU 83, Dayton 79

• After UD started the half with a three-pointer from De’Shayne Montgomery, BYU responded with a 15-0 run over the next 3:17 to take the lead, 45-39.
• A floater from Montgomery stopped the run and kept the Flyers close at 45-41.
• BYU responded with another scoring surge, going on an 11-2 run to push the lead to 56-43.
• Jones made an acrobatic layup, L’Etang connected from downtown, and Heard finished at the rim to bring UD back within
• Bennett connected from long range as the shot clock expired to bring Dayton back within two at 67-65.
• Dayton forced a BYU turnover and Heard flew the other way to make a contested layup and tie the game at 67-67.
• The two traded shots on the next two possessions, with Heard knocking down another three to pull the game even at 70-70.
• A four-point play from the Cougars gave them a 74-70 advantage with just under three to play.
• After a L’Etang three-pointer brought the score back to 74-73, BYU responded with another three to push the advantage back to four at 77-73.
• Another basket from BYU gave the Cougars a six-point advantage with 1:08 to go.
• Heard responded with a three-pointer on the next trip down the court to make it 79-76,
• The two traded free throws down the stretch, with the Flyers coming out on the short end 83-79.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 18 – bench points for Dayton, out-scoring BYU 18-0
• 17 – points in the first half for Javon Bennett
• 16 – points scored by Bryce Heard, a new career-high
• 15 – three-pointers made by Dayton in the game, a season-high
• 5 – blocks by the Flyers, tying a season-high
• 4 – season-high assists for Keonte Jones

UP NEXT
Dayton returns to the Epicenter of College Basketball, UD Arena, on Tuesday, Dec. 2 when it takes on ETSU at 7 p.m.