April 1, 2010 | AP Press

NEW YORK – Dayton players danced at midcourt and then lingered on ladders as they cut down the nets at Madison Square Garden.

Forgive these Flyers for taking a little extra time to soak it all in. They’re not as accustomed to trophy ceremonies as the North Carolina team they had just beaten.

Marcus Johnson scored 20 points and Dayton denied last year’s national champs another title, topping the Tar Heels 79-68 Thursday night to win the NIT.

“This game kind of is a capsule of our season,” coach Brian Gregory said. “Started off great, had some tough times and then just kind of fight through, and ended up very successful at the end.”

NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen said Thursday no decision has been made about the future of the postseason NIT, which is operated independently by the NCAA.

“Might be a fitting way to end it, for us to win it,” Gregory said.

How down-and-out were these Tar Heels heading into the postseason? When the 32-team NIT draw was announced, they opened at 35-1 odds to win the title.

And while Dayton has been a regular in this event, it was strange to see North Carolina on the college basketball undercard this time of year. One of the sport’s true heavyweights, the Tar Heels own five NCAA national championships, including an 89-72 victory over Michigan State in last year’s title game.

Tom Izzo and the Spartans are back in the Final Four, set to play Butler in Indianapolis on Saturday. North Carolina was left to chase a consolation prize following a 16-16 regular season wrecked by injuries, leaky defense and a string of embarrassing losses.

The blue bloods from Tobacco Road still have one NIT title, which came in 1971.

Every time North Carolina got close in the second half, Dayton had a response.

Tar Heels guard Marcus Ginyard missed a contested layup that could have tied it at 59, and Paul Williams hit one of his four 3s on the other end with 7:46 left.

A 3-pointer by Graves cut UNC’s deficit to 67-63 with 3:37 remaining, but Chris Johnson countered with a 3 of his own and a follow-up dunk to put Dayton up by nine with 2:50 to go.

North Carolina, which committed 15 turnovers, never got closer than five the rest of the way.

“Our guys played with great toughness and desire,” Gregory said. “We answered everything they threw at us.”

This was Dayton’s 22nd appearance in the NIT, second only to St. John’s (27). The Flyers also won it in 1962.

March 31, 2010 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS – Virginia Commonwealth had pretty simple motivation to finish off the best-of-three CBI championship without a Game 3.

“Just trying to get home,” said Jamie Skeen, who hit a pair of crucial baskets in the final two minutes of the Rams’ 71-65 victory over Saint Louis on Wednesday night. “If we win, we get to go home.”

Top reserve Brandon Rozzell scored a career-high 27 points and was 4-for-7 from 3-point range, helping VCU beat Saint Louis for the second time in three nights.

“We wanted this to be our last game,” Rozzell said. “We kept that in mind.”

Saint Louis (23-13) led by nine at halftime and again early in the second half before fading with a roster of freshmen and sophomores. Game 3 would have been Friday night in St. Louis.

“It was a great experience for us,” coach Rick Majerus said. “It was an honor to play in it. We didn’t have a good year, we had a great year.”

Skeen added 16 points and six rebounds and Joey Rodriguez had 13 points for the Rams (27-9), who compensated for an off-game by leading scorer Larry Sanders. He was in foul trouble much of the game and held to three points and four rebounds. Sanders had 20 points and 12 rebounds in a 68-56 victory Monday in Richmond, Va.

First-year coach Shaka Smart said before the game he discussed finishing the year on a five-game winning streak. The Rams finished fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association and lost only twice in their final 12 games, both times to CAA champion Old Dominion.

“We talked about this as the knockout game,” Smart said. “For a while it didn’t look like there was going to be anybody knocking anybody out.

“It was won on the defensive end,” Smart said.

Willie Reed had 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks for Saint Louis. Freshman Corey Remekun added career-bests with 13 points and seven rebounds for the Billikens, who finished 18-4 at home.

Cody Ellis was held to three points, eight below his average, on 1-for-9 shooting. Saint Louis was 2-for-18 from 3-point range for a two-game total of 7-for-38.

“Cody’s had a great year; he hit that freshman wall,” Majerus said. “We get so many open shots and we can’t hit.

“I told these guys, ‘You’ve got to be able to make shots.”

Another guard, Kyle Cassity, had four assists and a steal in 33 minutes but didn’t attempt a shot because of an undisclosed injury.

“Cassity was just like a dying dog,” Majerus said. “I applaud the kid, he kept wanting to play.”

VCU outscored Saint Louis 9-2 to pull away from a 61-all tie with 3:04 remaining, with Remekun finally scoring for the Billikens with seven seconds left. Rozzell’s previous best was 20 points against College of Charleston on March 22.

Saint Louis had appeared to seize control with 7:18 to go in the half on a five-point play — Sanders’ second foul plus a technical that put the Billikens ahead 23-20. Saint Louis led 33-24 at the break.