Flyers Dreadful in 75-53 Loss to Bonnies

The UD men's basketball team traveled to Olean, NY, on Tuesday night for a mid-week A10 contest against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. In must-win mode with a season of mulligans already used up, the Flyers sputtered on offense and defense in a lackluster 75-53 defeat in front of 3,929 fans at the Reilly Center.  Dayton drops to 14-7 (4-4) while SBU improves to 16-6- (4-5).
The Flyers won last season's lone match in a 76-71 victory at UD Arena.  Dayton came into tonight's contest as winners of 14 of the last 16 games against the Bonnies dating back to 2013. SBU's 68-59 win over the Flyers in 2023 ended a six-game losing streak to Dayton at the Reilly Center.  UD owned a 29-11 advantage in the series.
Dayton and SBU traded baskets in the first six minutes, converting both inside the paint and outside the three-point line to knot the score at 10-10.  The Bonnies soon got hot from the perimeter -- helped in part by no high hands from UD defenders -- to take a 21-13 lead with 12 minutes left in the half. A media timeout didn't help as SBU buried another triple to lead by 12 until Amael L'Etang stopped the bleeding on a layup.  The Bonnies remained hot from behind the arc to extend the lead as UD tried to keep pace but had trouble matching the torrid shooting. Isaac Jack scored inside, then UD got a steal in the final 30 seconds that resulted in a Malachi Smith layup to trim the halftime deficit to 39-32. All things considered, UD felt pretty good knowing they were still within reac...