On Tuesday night, the Dayton Flyers made the trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Duquesne Dukes at the UPMC Cooper Field House. Homecomers Nate Santos (senior forward) and Enoch Cheeks (senior guard) showed up for the Flyers, with 23 points from Cheeks and 9 from Santos, along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Santos and Cheeks are familiar faces within the city. Santos, the Flyers' leading scorer this season—and a preseason all-A10 first-team representative—transferred out of Pitt. Cheeks, the Flyers' second-leading scorer, transferred out of Robert Morris University the same year. The two came together in Dayton following the 2022-23 season to help Dayton reach the second round of the March Madness, beating 10th-seeded Nevada, but ultimately losing to 2nd-seeded Arizona.

The Flyers were also powered by junior guard Javon Bennett, who fouled out with 16 points, and freshman forward Amael L’etang, who finished with 16, including 11 in the second half.

After the game, Cheeks said, “You know, it means the world… It was good to come back to Pittsburgh and, you know, showcase what I can do… It’s always fun to come here, see old people, like my teammates and my managers.”

The game started with a three-pointer by Javon Bennett, and the rest of the first half was fireworks. Each team traded multiple triples; in fact, the first eight baskets of the game were threes, and at that point, the score was already 15-9 Dayton. The Flyers then went on a 19-10 run, extending to a 34-15 lead. The Flyers never looked back, but the Dukes slowed down. As the Flyers started 8/11 from three, 3 of which came from Cheeks, the Dukes shot just 1/8 after starting 3/5.

The teams, yet again, traded baskets to close the half the way it started. Duquesne’s Cam Crawford’s three brought the game back within 12, but Dayton responded quickly. Crawford responded with another triple, but Dayton again one-upped Duquesne with an And-1 by Amael L’etang and another 3 free throws by Malachi Smith. The Flyers went into halftime with a 44-25 lead. Dayton shot 9/13 from three in the first half. Duquesne head coach Dru Joyce said, “They got quality looks. They don't shoot (this well) every night. Tonight, they made us pay”.

The Dukes also started the game just 1/9 from the free throw line, a problem they have had all year. Junior guard Kareem Rozier said, “I think if we make our free throws tonight when that bleeding stops, I think maybe the game could’ve went differently if we had made those free throws at that time.”

The second half started, and Dayton was firing on all cylinders yet again. Dayton opened the half on a 20-9 run, making 4 threes. The score was 64-34 at that point, and the game was all but over.

Duquesne showed a small glimmer of hope, going on a 15-6 run thanks to 2 Trey Dinkins three-pointers, however, there were just over 2 minutes left, and a 16-point deficit was still too tall a task for Dru Joyce’s squad.

The game ended with a final score of 82-62, Flyers.

After the game, Kareem Rozier said, “We just didn’t have the juice tonight, even in practice yesterday.” Dru Joyce added to that, “Everything went wrong, didn’t it? Nothing went right, we just weren’t very good tonight. We didn’t match the intensity. When you play a good team, if you make mistakes, they punish you for them.”

Dru Joyce also said, “We have to move on, and in doing so, correct some mistakes. Because this game has nothing to do with the next one”. The Dukes, now 9-10 (4-2 A10), play Fordham next, on Sunday, January 26th.