Dayton earns 84-70 victory against La Salle

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Malachi Smith scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half and Dayton beat La Salle 84-70 on Tuesday in an Atlantic 10 Conference opener.

Smith also contributed five rebounds and six assists for the Flyers (11-3). Amael L'Etang scored 12 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Javon Bennett had 12 points and went 5 of 9 from the field.

Corey McKeithan led the Explorers (8-6) in scoring, finishing with 19 points, four assists and two steals. Daeshon Shepherd and Eric Acker each had 18 points.

Dayton went on a 19-2 run in the first half and led 36-21 at halftime, with Jacob Conner racking up seven points. Dayton pulled away with a 13-2 run in the second half.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.