DAYTON — The No. 22 University of Dayton men’s basketball team beat UNLV in dramatic fashion, 66-65, Tuesday night at the UD Arena.
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Malachi Smith’s three-point play with eight seconds left helped secure the win.
Julian Rishwain made a three-pointer to put the Rebels ahead, 65-63, with 23 seconds remaining.
Smith made a layup and drew a foul to tie the game at 65-65. His free throw put UD on top. UNLV’s Dedan Thomas Jr. missed a jumper at the buzzer.
The Flyers improved to 10-2 on the season.
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Dayton jumped out to a 9-2 advantage to start the game, but UNLV responded to the tie game at 11-11.
Amael L’Etang buried a three to reclaim the lead, 14-11. Nate Santos’ dunk gave UD a 22-14 lead with 8:04 left until halftime.
The Rebels ended the first half outscoring the Flyers, 14-5, to take a 28-27 halftime lead.
Dayton scored nine straight points to open the second half and went ahead, 36-28. UNLV would not go away outscoring UD, 12-4, to tie the game at 40-40.
The Flyers led 51-44 with 8:15 remaining, but Rishwain made three treys as UNLV reclaimed the lead, 55-53 with 3:34 left.
Jaden Henley’s three-point play extended the Rebels lead to 62-58 with 1:25 to play. Santos buried a three-pointer and Smith’s layup put the Flyers back on top, 63-62, with 37 seconds left.
Rishwain buried his fourth three of the game to put UNLV ahead, 65-63. Smith scored and got fouled with eight seconds left. He made the free throw and the Flyers led, 66-65.
Thomas’ shot attempt fell show at the buzzer and Dayton won its 25th consecutive home game.
Santos led UD with 14 points while Zed Key added 13. Smith scored 11 points, including the Flyers’ last five points. LE’Tang had 10.
Dayton’s next game is Friday when they play No. 19 Cincinnati in the Hoops Classic at Heritage Bank Arena. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio. It will also be carried here at WHIO.com.
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