Saunders, Wright help No. 9 BYU edge Dayton 83-79 to win ESPN Events Invitational
Richie Saunders had a season-high 29 points, Robert Wright III scored 23 and No. 9 BYU beat Dayton 83-79 to win the Magic bracket of the ESPN Events Invitational
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Richie Saunders had a season-high 29 points, Robert Wright III scored 23 and No. 9 BYU beat Dayton 83-79 to win the Magic bracket of the ESPN Events Invitational on Friday night.
Saunders made 9 of 15 shots from the floor, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, and all five of his free throws for the Cougars (6-1). He also had eight rebounds and three steals. Wright hit 9 of 16 shots with two 3-pointers and added six assists and two steals. AJ Dybantsa scored 18 on 7-for-12 shooting.
Javon Bennett made six 3-pointers and scored 22 to pace the Flyers (6-2). Bryce Heard hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points off the bench. Amael L'Etang added 13 points and De'Shayne Montgomery 11.
Bennett made five from beyond the arc in the first half, scoring 17 to help Dayton take a 36-30 lead into the break.
Montgomery buried a 3-pointer to begin the second half for Dayton, but Saunders and Dybantsa had back-to-back layups and Wright hit from deep to spark a 15-0 run and the Cougars moved in front 45-39 with 16:24 remaining.
BYU played with a lead until Bennett hit a 3-pointer in the middle of a 7-0 run to pull the Flyers even at 67-all with four minutes left.
Wright and Heard traded 3-pointers before Saunders followed with a four-point play and the Cougars held on over the final 2:56.
Recommended for you
BYU shot 51.8% overall and 45.5% (10 for 22) from beyond the arc. The Cougars made 15 of 18 free throws.
Dayton shot 46.8% overall, made 15 of 33 from distance (45.5%) and 6 of 14 foul shots.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.