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Thursday, January 29, 2009
Flyers overcome offensive woes
Dayton had a 45-42 lead with seven minutes to go against Saint Louis, and the Flyers’ defense was playing so well that a spurt of any kind would have put the game away.
But they spent the next six minutes in a futile search for offense. It was like watching a team of archeologists going on a dig for precious artifacts equipped with nothing but metal detectors.
Marcus Johnson missed a three, London Warren committed a turnover, Rob Lowery clanked a 15-footer and Chris Wright couldn’t get a drive to fall.
Center Kurt Huelsman went scoreless on an 0-for-4 night. The Flyers’ point guards, Warren (1-for-5) and Lowery (0-for-7), had a combined three points. And UD was 0-for-11 from 3-point land.
But with the game slipping away, they notched the biggest basket of the night, executing a perfect ally-oop dunk from Johnson with 1:05 to go. But even that play was a mess at the start.
Johnson had to direct his teammates to their proper spots while Lowery dribbled outside. In the end, though, it worked.
“It was a play coach (Brian Gregory) designed to get an easy bucket,” Johnson said. “We messed it up a few times, but Rob threw it, he made a good pass, and I finished it.
“It was a big basket. We got a W. You can’t complain.”
As Gregory has often pointed out, the Flyers are a flawed team, and they were exposed again as a squad that lacks scoring punch in half-court sets. But they pulled out a 47-46 win by attacking the glass (15 offensive boards) and keeping the Billikens dribbling sideways because of some wicked defense. They’re 19-2, and if they beat St. Joe’s on Sunday, they’ll have 20 wins — on the first weekend in February. Preposterous.
“The most important thing is finding a way to win — especially in a game like that,” Wright said. “Every possession is important. We just want to grind it out. We knew going into the game that it would be a game of possessions, and we just found a way to win.”
UD looked to be taking control after grabbing a 27-22 lead (the biggest for any team all night) with an 8-0 run, but Saint Louis freshman Kwamain Mitchell buried a career-best four 3-pointers in the first half, including two in the final 65 seconds to give the Billikens a 28-27 lead at the break.
“We told our guys at halftime that we needed to do a better job on our defensive intensity, and they sure did that,” Gregory said. “We needed every defensive stop, every defensive rebound, every effort play on the offensive glass.”
UD fans may need to stock up on the nitroglycerin — these close shaves can’t be good for the heart — but the Flyers have put themselves in a great position for an NCAA tourney berth in year that wasn’t supposed to be nearly this promising, and it’ll be fun watching these final six weeks to see if they can pull it off.
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TweetFlyers hold on for one-point win
Chris Wright had 16 points and Charles Little 14 to lead cold-shooting Dayton to a 47-46 win over Saint Louis on Thursday night.
The Flyers (19-2, 5-1 Atlantic 10) were 18-for-55 from the field (33 percent) and 0-for-11 from 3-point range, but they forced the Billikens (11-9, 2-4) into 19 turnovers.
Saint Louis had the final shot of the game, but Kwamain Mitchell missed a drive in traffic with three seconds left.
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TweetGregory ready to face A-10 coaching royalty
Dayton’s Brian Gregory is going against two coaching giants this week in Rick Majerus of Saint Louis and Phil Martelli of Saint Joseph’s. Majerus has a 449-170 career record, Martelli 272-159.
“My second league game as a coach was against Temple and John Chaney,” Gregory said. “I told the guys, ‘He’s got 700 wins. I’m not out-coaching this guy, so you guys better out-play ‘em.’
“With coach Majerus and coach Martelli, you’re not just talking about two of the best coaches in college basketball, you’re talking about two of the best coaches who ever COACHED in college basketball.”
Gregory is in his sixth year and has a 116-62 record. He’s 3-0 against Majerus and 3-3 against Martelli.
Majerus has a .725 winning percentage, Gregory .652 and Martelli .631.
“As I’ve learned in my ‘vast experience’ now, it’s not the X’s-and-O’s, it’s the Jims-and-Joes,” Gregory said.
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