Dayton routs Duquesne for first true road victory of season

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (13-6, 3-3) won its second straight game since a three-game losing streak. It also won a true road game for the first time after losses at George Washington and Massachusetts.

Duquesne (9-10, 4-2) saw a three-game losing streak end.

The Flyers avenged a 65-57 loss to Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament quarterfinals last March and won their sixth straight regular-season game in the series.

This was Dayton’s most lopsided victory since an 86-62 victory against Lehigh on Dec. 7.

Star of the game: Enoch Cheeks followed a career-high 26-point performance Saturday in an 83-81 overtime victory against Loyola Chicago with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He made 4 of 6 3-pointers.

Stat of the game: Dayton shot 56.6% from 3-point range (13 of 23), their second-best percentage of the season. Dayton made 13 of its first 17 attempts, including four in the first five minutes of the second half to turn a 44-25 halftime lead into a 58-32 advantage.

Big lead: The Flyers led by 30 points twice in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Saint Joseph’s (12-7, 3-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at UD Arena. The Hawks won 78-61 at Davidson on Tuesday.

FIRST-HALF RECAP

Dayton built its biggest halftime lead of the season against Duquesne, taking a 44-25 lead into the break.

It was the highest points total allowed by Duquesne in the first half this season. Dayton owned its largest halftime lead since it led North Carolina 51-33 in November.

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

Key players: Cheeks led Dayton with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting. He made 3 of 3 3-pointers.

Javon Bennett scored 10 points in the half for the Flyers, making 2 of 2 3-pointers.

Key stat: Dayton shot 69.2% (9 of 12) from 3-point range. Duquesne shot 42.9% (6 of 14).

Big run: Dayton led 20-15 with eight minutes to go and outscored Duquesne 24-10 over the rest of the half. Malachi Smith was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the buzzer and made all three free throws to give Dayton its biggest lead.

Dayton lineup news: Zed Key was in uniform but did not play in the first half. He injured his back in the first half Saturday against Loyola Chicago.

Amaël L’Etang made his second straight start. He had five points in the first half.

Posh Alexander missed his third straight game with a foot injury.