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March 7, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Luke Fabrizius scored a career-high 17 points and Dayton set a school record with its 25th regular-season win, beating Duquesne 74-61 on Saturday night.

Chris Wright added 11 points and Charles Little 10 for the Flyers (25-6, 11-5 Atlantic 10). They finished the year 18-0 at the University of Dayton Arena, the first time they had ever accomplished that feat.

Aaron Jackson had 16 points and Bill Clark and B.J. Monteiro each had 12 for Duquesne (18-11, 9-7), which watched the Flyers hit 65 percent of their shots in the first half to build a 49-36 lead and never trail again.

Dayton clinched a tie for second in the Atlantic 10, but will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s conference tournament.

The Flyers also set a school record for attendance, celebrating by going up into the stands after the game to slap high fives with their fans.

AP Photo

March 5, 2009 | AP Press

CINCINNATI — Dante Jackson scored Xavier’s first 11 points for a lead that held, and the Musketeers (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) beat Dayton 76-59 on Thursday night for their third straight Atlantic 10 regular-season championship.

Xavier (24-5, 12-3) joined a short list of A10 heavyweights — no one has dominated like this since UMass and Temple in the 1990s.

No one loses the way Dayton does whenever it makes the hour-long bus ride down Interstate 75.

The Flyers (24-6, 10-5) haven’t beaten Xavier in Cincinnati since 1981, losing their last 24 games on whatever court happens to be Xavier’s home. The mind-boggling streak went on despite 19 points by Marcus Johnson.

On a night when Xavier honored its two seniors, the underclassmen kept them ahead most of the game. Jackson led the way, finishing with 14 points.

February 28, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Mickey Perry, Marcus Johnson and Charles Little each hit two foul shots in the final 41 seconds to help Dayton hang on for a 70-65 victory over Temple on Saturday.

Temple (17-11, 9-5 Atlantic 10) had trailed by 16 points with less than 6 minutes left before putting together a furious comeback that drew the Owls to 64-59 with just under a minute remaining.

But Perry hit two foul shots with 41 seconds left. After Dionte Christmas, who matched Ryan Brooks with 20 points for the Owls, hit a 3-pointer, Johnson hit two more free throws with 16 seconds remaining. Christmas hit another 3 with 9 seconds left before Little made both of his foul shots with 5 seconds remaining to close the scoring.

Chris Wright scored 20 points, Johnson had 14 and Perry 10 for the Flyers (24-5, 10-4). London Warren added nine rebounds, eight assists and four points.

February 25, 2009 by Chris Frechette | A10CollegeHoops

KINGSTON, RI – URI was pretty in pink tonight at the annual “pink out” game as they defeated Dayton 93-91 in overtime on a last second driving layup by point guard Marquis Jones as time expired.  

After Dayton shooting guard Marcus Johnson tied the game at 91-91 on a 3 pointer with Rhody guard Jimmy Baron in his face with 12 seconds left, Jones brought the ball upcourt, worked off of a pick from forward Kahiem Seawright, drove the lane and put up a layup with his back to the basket that rattled around the rim and fell through as the buzzer went off sending the 7,218 Rhode Island fans into a frenzy.

“I got a screen from Kahiem and what happened, happened,” Jones said.  “I was trying to get fouled as I went up (for the shot)”.   The overtime win puts the Rams’ record at 3-1 in overtime games this year, 12-1 at home,  and brings their overall record to 21-8, 10-4 in the A-10 which is good for third place in the conference.

Kahiem Seawright puts the last play of the game in different perspective.  “I wanted the last shot so bad.  We did a pick and roll, they switched, I rolled and I had a little guy on me and I looked at him like you better give me the ball,” he said.  “Marquis made a move and I was still looking at him saying you better give me the ball, and he made the shot.  So he didn’t have to give me the ball.”

Rhode Island was led by a balanced scoring attack  where five players reached double figures.  Jimmy Baron, Kahiem Seawright, and Keith Cothran all had 19 points, while Delroy James chipped in 18 points and Marquis Jones added 13 points.

URI was on fire in the first half, shooting 17-29 from the floor (59%), and 8-11 from three point range (73%).  The Rams finished the last minute of the first half with a 7-0 run on two free throws from Delroy James, a three pointer from Jimmy Baron, and Delroy James dunk off of a steal from Marquis Jones which gave the Rams a 52-44 halftime lead.  URI’s 52 halftime points was just 7 shy of the 59 points per game the Flyers average on defense. 

“Our defense was just awful in the first half,” Dayton coach Brian Gregory said.  “With that being said, they’re (URI) the most efficient offensive team in the league.”  The Flyers tightened up their defense in the second half and allowed only half the points they allowed in the first half (26).  Led by a game high 21 points from Marcus Johnson, Dayton (23-5, 9-4 A-10) clawed back into the game to force overtime on a layup by point guard London Warren (6 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals).

“You saw a great indication on how good the (A-10) league is,” Gregory said.  “You saw a team with 21 wins and a team with 23 wins, and you saw why (they both have that many wins)”.  Gregory added, “You lose on the road in this league and you don’t have to apologize to anybody, and I don’t apologize for our effort tonight”.

“This is the greatest moment I’ve had at URI,” said Jimmy Baron.  “We didn’t win these types of games last year, or early this year.  We’re all on the same page now, setting ourselves up for success”.

Coach Baron agreed that URI’s recent success has to be attributed to its senior leadership.  “The senior leadership has been tremendous,” he said.  “I couldn’t be more proud of our kids, they played with great tenacity”.

Jimmy Baron was also named to the second team Academic All-American team by ESPN the Magazine.

The University of Rhode Island community raised over $19,000 dollars for the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation with their annual “Pink Out” game.

AP Photo

February 21, 2009 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO – Kevin Lisch had 16 points and six rebounds to lead Saint Louis to a 57-49 victory over No. 25 Dayton on Saturday night.

Tommie Liddell added 10 points and five assists for the Billikens (17-10, 8-5 Atlantic 10), which has won six of seven.

Chris Wright led the Flyers (23-4, 9-3) with 11 points points. and Charles Little and Marcus Johnson added 10 points apiece. The loss was Dayton’s second in its last 11 games.

Dayton trailed 28-24 at the half, but scored the first five points after the break to take its first lead. The game see-sawed after that with neither team leading by more than three until Kwamain Mitchell converted a three-point play that gave Saint Louis a 47-42 lead with 3:25 left.

The Flyers pulled to 49-47 on Wright’s three free throws, but Eberhardt hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 1:12 left to push the lead to 52-49. Lisch made two free throws to gave Saint Louis a 54-47 lead with 38.9 seconds left, and hit three more from the line down the stretch to seal the win.

Playing before the first packed house at Chaifetz Arena (10,603), Saint Louis scored first and stretched the lead to 22-12 when Mitchell drove to the basket and hit a runner with 8:43 left in the first half.

The Flyers began to chip away after that. Dayton scored the last four points of the half on a drive by Mickey Perry and a baseline jumper by Paul Williams with 1:13 left that made it 28-24.

AP Photo

February 14, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Chris Wright had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Dayton to a 69-63 win over Richmond on Saturday night, with the Flyers setting an arena record with their 17th consecutive home victory.

London Warren added 10 points and six assists for the Flyers (23-3, 9-2), who remained tied with Xavier for first place in the Atlantic 10.

Kevin Anderson scored 24 points and David Gonzalvez had 16 for Richmond (12-13, 4-6).

Dayton never trailed after the opening 2 minutes of the game, but the Spiders were behind just 57-53 with 5:45 left in the game after a three-point play by Gonzalvez.

Charles Little followed with a three-point play of his own and the Spiders never got closer than five points again.

The Flyers have won more than 17 home games in a row, but not since moving into the University of Dayton Arena in 1969.

AP Photo

February 11, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Chris Wright led a balanced offense with 19 points, and Dayton ended its six-game losing streak against No. 14 Xavier with a 71-58 victory Wednesday night in one of the Atlantic 10’s marquee matchups of the season.

Using its depth and balance to full advantage, Dayton (22-3, 8-2) led the entire game against the defending two-time conference champions, who now have to work to make it three in a row.

Xavier (20-4, 8-2) has lost back-to-back games for the second time this season, denting the Musketeers’ chances of a high seed in the NCAA tournament. The regular-season A10 title is now up in the air, too. The southwest Ohio rivals play again on March 5 in Cincinnati, where Dayton has lost its last 23 games since 1981.

Wright scored the last nine points for Dayton, which had lost to the Musketeers six times in the last two years. Dayton joined Duke as the only teams to shoot 50 percent from the field against Xavier, which got 17 points from Derrick Brown.

Both teams were coming off upset losses on the road set up by lackluster defense. There was no letting up Wednesday in the most-played rivalry for both teams.

Dayton suffered a setback to its pressure defense when guard Rob Lowery hurt his right knee midway through the first half and didn’t return. He went down hard after getting off a shot in a crowd of defenders, and cradled his knee for several minutes. He didn’t put any weight on the leg as he was helped off.

Lowery is a key to Dayton’s pressure defense, which is the stingiest in the Atlantic 10. It made its mark in the opening minutes, helping the Flyers pull ahead and set a tone.

Xavier turned the ball over on its first three possessions — C.J. Anderson drew two charging fouls, and the Musketeers had a shot clock violation. Dayton took advantage by pulling ahead 8-1. The Flyers led by as many as eight in the half, turning back a couple of Xavier rallied that cut the lead to one.

With Lowery out, sophomore guard Stephen Thomas got an opportunity to play more than usual. Thomas, who hadn’t scored in the last seven games, hit a floating jumper and free throw in the closing minutes of the half, putting Dayton up 33-28 at the intermission.

The Flyers’ problems deepened when point guard London Warren picked up his third foul only 13 seconds into the second half. Still, Xavier had a hard time taking advantage and putting together a run that would get them a lead. A pair of 3s by Wright helped the Flyers extend the lead to 47-39 while Warren was on the bench.

Marcus Johnson made a driving basket and a 3-pointer, and Wright followed with a jumper in traffic that pushed the lead to 64-50 with 5:26 to go. Xavier never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

February 8, 2009 by Jordan Keyser | A10 College Hoops

CHARLOTTE, NC – The University of Dayton may be known as the Flyers, but the Charlotte 49ers were the high-flying team Sunday, coming out on top 79-66.

Although Chris “Top Flight” Wright is known nationally for his dunking ability, it was Charlotte’s Charlie Coley and Rashad Coleman who delivered the pulse-racing highlights. Coley flushed several great alley-oops delivered by Dijuan Harris, while Coleman threw down two dunks off offensive rebounds. Coleman also added punctuation to the victory by slamming a one-handed windmill with 3 seconds left in the game.

Dayton’s Wright, who many consider a potential 1^st round NBA draft pick, was virtually shut-out by Lamont Mack and the Niners stingy defense, scoring only 5 points the entire game. Wright also committed 5 turnovers and eventually fouled out of the game. Mack’s counter-performance of 20 points may have had something to do with who he was going head to head with.

“They were definitely cocky,” said Mack. “Chris Wright is a great player, and I give him respect for that, but I feel I’m a great player too.”

Dijuan Harris netted his 3^rd straight double-double, with 13 points and 12 assists. Regarding his performance, Harris had this to say:

“They did a good job subbing in guards and trying to wear me down throughout the course of the game. I countered that by using my 4-man to help me bring the ball down the court and picking my spots when they gave them to me. I think I did a good job handling the pressure tonight, and I came out with 12 assists and 1 turnover.”

Dijuan Harris salutes the crowd's standing ovation.

The first half was marked by physical defense. The refs seemed to let the players play, and many possible fouls were not called, much to the dismay of the hometown crowd. The crowd became overly boisterous and unruly. This built to a swell, and the team was charged with a technical foul for their performance. Charlotte swung the momentum back their way late in the half by drawing a pair of charges.

Chris Johnson dominated the first half for the Flyers, netting 13 points and 7 boards in just 11 minutes on the floor.

It was an overall impressive team performance for the 49ers, with timely buckets being scored by number of players. From Charlie Coley’s alley-oop dunks, to Coleman’s put-backs to Mack’s timely 3-pointers, everyone contributed for the Niners.

“It was a great team performance. We really feel like this is the Charlotte 49ers that we can be,” said Head Coach Bobby Lutz.

In all, 9 players scored for the 49ers.

Charlotte heads to St. Louis to face Coach Rick Majerus and his Billikens on Wednesday night. Up next for Dayton is a home game against 9^th ranked Xavier, also on Wednesday.

Press Conference with Dijuan Harris, Lamont Mack, Rashad Coleman and Coach Bobby Lutz

February 4, 2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Marcus Johnson jammed in a missed shot with 1.8 seconds left to give Dayton a 63-61 victory over La Salle on Wednesday night.

Johnson had 16 points and Chris Wright 14 for Dayton (21-2, 7-1 Atlantic 10), which won its seventh straight.

Rodney Green had 25 points and Ruben Guillandeaux 12 for the Explorers (12-9, 3-4).

The Flyers, who led by as many as 17 points in the first half, held a 60-54 lead with 3:35 left. Green then scored five straight points, cutting the lead to 60-59.

After a free throw by Wright, Green’s 6-foot turnaround jumper tied the score at 61-all with 46 seconds remaining.

But La Salle never got another shot, and Johnson’s follow-up basket off a Wright runner was the winner.

Leading 16-12 early in the first half, Dayton went on a 17-4 run to lead 33-16 with 4:55 left in the half. Dayton held a 39-28 advantage at the break, hitting on 13 of 23 shots, while La Salle shot 8-for-20 and committed 11 turnovers.

The Flyers lead 21-13 in the series and have won 13 of 15.

February 1, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, OH — Chris Wright scored 14 points as Dayton took control early in the second half on their way to a 69-58 win over Saint Joseph’s Sunday afternoon.

Marcus Johnson hit two 3-pointers and Kurt Huelsman made a jumper just after halftime to expand Dayton’s lead to 47-34 with 16:35 to play. Saint Joseph’s (12-8, 5-1 Atlantic 10) got to within nine points when Tasheed Carr made two free throws with 10:11 left, but the Hawks couldn’t get any closer.

Johnson and Charles Little each scored 13 points for Dayton (20-2, 6-1), which has matched its best start ever and hasn’t lost at home this season.

Carr led Saint Joseph’s with 14 points, while Ahmad Nivins grabbed 13 rebounds but scored just 12 points, his season-low. Darrin Govens added 11 points.