Bennett’s Career Night Dumps FAU 86-79 in NIT

After flaming out in the A10 Tournament and missing an opportunity to compete in March Madness, the Dayton Flyers accepted an NIT bid as consolation prize on Sunday night.  With the First Four occupying UD Arena this week, the #1 seed Flyers hit the road to play Florida Atlantic and rode the coattails of Javon Bennett's career-high 30pts to win 86-79 and earn another postseason basketball game.  UD improves to 23-10.  FAU ends their season at 18-16.
The Owls finished 10-8 in the AAC this year and a subsequent fifth-place finish.  FAU made the magical run to the Final Four in 2023 before falling to eventual national runner-up San Diego State. After reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons -- their only appearances in program history -- the Owls lost head coach Dusty May to the Michigan Wolverines and fell into rebuilding mode from significant personnel losses over the last two seasons as well as ushering in a new coaching staff.  UD and FAU met just once previously, a convincing 81-56 Flyer victory at UD Arena on Dec. 15, 2012. The late Matt Derenbecker led all Dayton scorers with 15 points on 5-8 shooting from behind the arc. Kevin Dillard, Devin Oliver, and Vee Sanford also finished in double figures while FAU's Greg Gantt had 26pts in the loss.
As the only higher seed playing on the road in the NIT First Round, UD had something to prove in FAU's small gymnasium in the comparative winter paradise of Boca Raton, FL.  Enoch Cheeks opened UD's first posses...