Enoch Cheeks added 10 points, four rebounds and four steals with a dunk. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
When needed, the University of Dayton bench can make a difference and it did on New Year’s Eve against La Salle in the Atlantic 10 opener, an 84-70 win for the Flyers. Four bench players came out of their chairs to score 26 points and grab 19 rebounds.
Hall of famer Hal McCoy writes UD Flyer basketball exclusively for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Dayton, OH — A few days before he aided and abetted the University of Dayton’s 84-70 victory over La Salle on New Year’s Eve in UD Arena, point guard Malachi Smith wandered into a Barnes & Noble book store.
It was the first step of his New Year’s resolution.
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“My resolution is to start reading more books,” he said. “I bought a psychology book about changing your mind-set, discipline and how to be a superior man.”
Ask La Salle who was the superior man Tuesday afternoon in the Atlantic 10 opener for both schools.
Smith, a 6-1 junior from The Bronx, gave La Salle the ol’ thumb-on-the-nose Bronx Cheer en route to game-high 20 points, six assists and even five rebounds.
Discipline? Mind-set? Smith displayed both in making important play after important play in the decisive minutes.
Nate Santos made only one three, but it was big and beat the shot clock.
It actually began when La Salle was down, 40-23, after the 11-3 Flyers exploded on a 22-5 run to wipe out La Salle’s 18-17 lead.
But the Explorers, as they did the entire game, refused to go play in the sand. They stayed the course and put on a run of their own, 17-6. The Flyers lead had evaporated from 40-23 to 46-40 with 12 1/2 minutes left.
It was time for Mali’s Moments.
He drove for a basket. . .48-40. He made 1 of 2 free throws and drove for another basket, expanding UD’s lead to 55-42.
Then came the coup de grace. . .a pair of coups that were gifts from the basketball gods, just what the Flyers needed when La Salle once again refused to say sayanora and trailed by 76-64.
With the 30-second shot clock expiring, Smith whirled from the top of the lane and launched. The ball smashed against the glass, nearly shattering it, then banked into the basket.
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Asked if he called ‘bank’ on the shot, Smith smiled impishly and said, “No sir, I didn’t.”
If that weren’t demoralizing enough to La Salle, just moments late the Explorers appeared to have the Flyers stopped as the shot clock clicked down to :01.
Malachi Smith led the Flyers with 20 points and one big shot.
This time it was Nate Santos with a desperate heave and the horn sounded with the ball in the air. At least Santos had the decency to swish the shot and not use an unplanned bank shot.
That was the final damage of the day done by the Flyers, an off-and-on 14-point victory, their 26th straight win on the UD Arena floor.
Perhaps it was too much ham, turkey and pumpkin pie during an 11-day holiday hiatus, but the Flyers came out flatter than burned buckwheat pancakes to start the game.
Fortunately, La Salle was in the same funk. They led the Flyers, 18-17, but UD outscored them, 19-3, in the last nine minutes to grab a 36-21 halftime lead.
And that surge was led by the Bench Brigade — 7-foot-1 Amael L’Etang, Posh Alexande, Jaiun Simon and Jacob Conner.
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For the game, the Flyers received 26 points and 19 rebounds from the non-starters, 12 points and five rebounds from L’Etang. During one quick spell during the late first-half surge, Simon had five points and four rebounds in five minutes.
Asked if L’Etang, the French Freshman, was a big surprise this season, Enoch Cheeks said, “No, he is good. And you should see the things he does in practice. It is not surprising to see what he is doing on the court. I’m not, I’m really not.”
Amael L’Etang, the French Freshman, was the big spark off the bench with 12 points.
And Smith added, “We all really trust him. When he first came he didn’t play with the confidence that you need so we try to give our freshmen the confidence they need. I’m not really surprised.”
While Cheeks added 10 points, four rebounds and four steals to Smith’s numbers, Santos and Javon Bennett each added 12 points.
But it was the Shock Troops trudging off their chairs and onto the floor that spiced up this one.
“The guys off the bench gave us a little spark, got us going,” said coach Anthony Grant. “Twenty-six points and 19 rebounds off the bench. Man, that’s great. I didn’t know what the numbers were. They gave us great minutes and I’m proud of them because that’s about being prepared for an opportunity.
“There is a saying. . .It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared,” he said. “It’s a credit to guys who may not get consistent minutes that the opportunity presented itself today and they gave us a big boost.”
Javon Bennett hits under the hoop and scored 12 points.
For the past few games, 6-foot-11 Isaac Jack has been MIA and fans wondered if he was on ‘Lost’ posters all over campus. Early in the season, he was starter Zed Key’s back-up but has slipped behind L’Etang.
He played briefly Tuesday, 2 1/2 minutes, and strung zeros across the stat sheet.
“Like I said,” said Grant. “Just be ready when the opportunity presents itself. Isaac has a great attitude, he works his tail off every day, but he has a couple of guys who are ahead of him right now in the rotation. His ability to make sure he’s prepared. . .I think he has done a great job of that.”
Smith said the back-ups are just what the Flyers needed against La Salle.
“We know what those guys are capable of, we know how deep we are, how dangerous we can be,” said Smith. “When one set of guys is not performing to our standards, we know we have players on the team that can uplift us.”
Jacob Conner returns to action and contributed seven points off the bench.
UD’s next two games are Atlantic 10 road games at George Mason and UMass. the Flyers’ first true road games. So far all their games away from UD Arena had been at neutral sites.
Grant and Cheeks both say the Flyers might as well wear red-circle targets on the back of the uniforms against Atlantic 10 opposition.
“My very nature is to worry,” said Grant. “We have to understand that we have to expect to get our opponent’s best. So we have to be prepared to bring our best, understand that it is a different environment and the energy will be different for us. That comes down to having a mature team.”
While the Flyer Faithful travel well, nothing on the road can match the pomp, circumstance and the voluminous roar of support in UD Arena.
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“We definitely are embracing that,” said Cheeks. “Teams get up for us when we wear that ‘Dayton’ across our chests because of our resume and what we’ve done in non-conference. We have to go those places with a high energy.”
And make certain to take those ‘extra guys’ with you.
Nate Santos fights heavy traffic to drive for a layup en route to 12 points.
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