– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BRONX, NEW YORK — Malachi Smith’s motivation to show out on Wednesday night was all too evident, from his mom cheering five rows above the Dayton bench to members of the basketball team at his alma mater gazing at one of their alumni behind the basket. Smith and the rest of Dayton did their part to make the away fans — who felt like they were home — leave happy, and keep them one step closer to making their lives a little easier as conference tournament play rolls around.
Smith led five players in double figures for Dayton with 18 points as the Flyers pulled away from Fordham 93-76 inside Rose Hill Gymnasium on Wednesday evening. Fellow guard Javon Bennett had 16 points while Enoch Cheeks and Zed Key each had 14 as Dayton rebounded from its home loss last Friday against VCU to remain tied for fourth place in the loss column in the A-10 standings, with a double bye into the quarterfinals the prize for finishing in the league’s top four.
Smith, the Bronx native and graduate of traditional New York City high school powerhouse St. Raymond, scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, as a 15-4 run midway through the stanza turned a 63-60 lead for the Flyers to a 78-64 advantage that ushered in the beginning of the end to the competitive nature of the contest.
The Flyers’ pressing defense also tolled, and after a three-point play by the Rams’ Japhet Medor that cut their deficit to 61-58 at the 13:30 mark, Dayton held the Rams for the next 5:55.
Jackie Johnson III made five threes on his way to leading Fordham with 24 points, his third consecutive game scoring at least 20. Japhet Medor and Joshua Rivera added 17 points. Fordham, after making 50 percent of its shots from the field in the first half, went just 10-for-27 in the final 20 minutes.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Robert Cole. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 18 pictures in total.
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