What it means: The Flyers got rolling early in the first half. An 18-0 run erased a one-point deficit and left the Ospreays reeling thanks to multiple jams by Malcolm Thomas and De’Shayne Montgomery.
Dayton (8-3 overall) is now 4-0 all-time against North Florida (2-8 overall). This was the first matchup between the teams since the 2019-20 season. The Ospreays were a sub-300 team at KenPom.com and have yet to defeat a Division I opponent this season.
Star of the game: Montgomery was nearly unstoppable, scoring 23 points on 9 of 10 shooting, including a 4-for-4 performance from three, and had four steals in just 21 minutes.
Don’t forget about defense: The dunks were the highlight, but Dayton pulled away thanks largely to not allowing UNF to get shots near the basket. The Ospreays only made consecutive shot attempts once over the initial 33 minutes of the game and missed 10 of 11 shots late in the first half as Dayton’s lead swelled.
Stat of the game: Dayton made 16 of 18 shot attempts during a near 13-minute stretch in the first half on the way to shooting 57.6% in the opening 20 minutes. 12 of those baskets came in the paint.
Double-double: Amael L’Etang had 14 points and 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. He scored 18 and grabbed 10 boards against Bethune Cookman on Nov. 15.
Obi worthy: Montgomery said he told his mother on Friday if he had a breakaway opportunity he wanted to throw down a windmill dunk in front of Obi Toppin. He didn’t back down from the moment as he brought the Indiana Pacers star to his feet.
Thomas slammed in four dunks during the first half wearing Obi’s old No. 1 jersey.
Looking ahead: Dayton has a short break before playing Florida State (5-5) at 7 p.m. on Dec. 16 at UD Arena. The Seminoles have lost four straight after dropping a 103-95 decision to former Atlantic 10 Conference member Massachusetts on Saturday.
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