The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Dayton Flyers faced off in the yearly CareSource Charity Exhibition game for mental health on Sunday in Dayton, Ohio.
The Flyers showed encouraging results in their first exhibition game of the season, defeating Penn State 78-62. While the result is promising, Dayton coach Anthony Grant wanted to see how his reshaped roster would gel together with nearly two weeks until the regular season.
“Defense looked solid at times,” Grant said. “It’s been a point of emphasis all offseason, so it’s good to see improvement there.”
Grant’s starting lineup featured three returning players in Javon Bennet, Amael Letang and Jacob Conner. Transfers Keonte Jones and De’Shayne Montgomery also received the starting nod.
Ten different players played at least nine minutes for the Flyers, all of them attempting at least three field goal attempts throughout the course of the game.
Penn State put together a starting lineup with a majority of transfers, too. Josh Reed (Cincinnati), Saa Ciani (UIC) and Eli Rice (Nebraska) were the three veteran pieces in the lineup. Penn State also started two underclassmen in sophomore Dominick Stewart and true freshman Kayden Mingo.
The game started with Dayton dominating on the defensive end, forcing Penn State to use a timeout 40 seconds into the game after its inability to inbound the ball due to the Flyers’ full-court press. Dayton jumped out to an early 10-point lead behind a Javon Bennett 3-pointer and held onto that lead for the majority of the first half. With a little over three minutes remaining in the half, Penn State went on a 7-2 run, only trailing by 5 at halftime.
Dayton started the second half off hot. Within the first three minutes, Dayton’s lead jumped up to 14 points behind a pair of layups by Jones. Penn State never led against the Flyers, and Dayton’s largest lead was 27.
Grant raved about his team’s performance, including its ability to finish around the rim.
“No one shied away from contact when driving to the hoop, and that’s why we ended up shooting 17 free throws,” Grant said. “We have to make more of them next time, but it’s good to see we are getting to the line.”
This is the third time the Flyers have participated in a game that advocates for mental health, facing off against Ohio State in 2023 and Xavier in 2024, losing both of those games.
Dayton opens their season on Nov. 3, hosting the Canisius Golden Griffins from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Flyers ranked third in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll and are eager to get the season underway.
“I thought there would be a little more people here today, but it was definitely a great atmosphere for an exhibition game,” said Jones, a senior transfer forward. “I’ve heard the stories about the court shaking after a big play, so I’m looking forward to that when the season starts.”
