What a difference a half makes — at least that’s what Winthrop Head Coach Gregg Marshall is saying after the Dayton Flyers took a competitive first half and blew the game open in the final frame for a 76-49 victory before 11,606 rowdy fans at the UD Arena. The Flyers improve to 6-0 for the first time since the days of Hank Finkel and the UD Fieldhouse.

Winthrop lived up to their label as a dangerous non-conference team by trading blows with the Flyers in the first half. While Purnell’s team struggled to find the bottom of the net, Winthrop burned Dayton for numerous offensive rebounds, stick-backs, and hustle plays to keep the game tight. The Flyers eventually milked out a 10pt lead but Winthrop came up with a few defensive stops and turned them into points to cut the deficit to 28-23 at the half. And what an ugly half it was.

The first 20 minutes of the game were so sloppy and unintelligent that UD fans started fidgeting in their seats. While the sharpshooting Eagles couldn’t dial in from long distance, the Flyers looked like flag poles in concrete. Time and time again UD players failed to move their feet, stay goalside, and prevent Winthrop penetration toward the basket. As a result, the Flyers picked up several cheap fouls that helped the Eagles hang around. It was a good thing Winthrop was ice cold from the outside – like Dayton.

Gregg Marshall’s team had a few good looks but couldn’t knock them down, preventing them from potentially overtaking the Flyers in the first half. But there was another half to play and the home team made the most of it. Tony Stanley got things going by sinking a trey from the corner to score the first points of the second half. It wouldn’t be long as Cain Doliboa began tossing in trey-bombs with one foot on Alberta and a hand in the face. Again and again the Springboro native added three points to the scoreboard and before long the Flyers were in the middle of a blowout. Not to be outdone, Brooks Hall sank a couple from behind the arc, leaving Winthrop with no other choice but to burn timeouts in hope of stopping the momentum. By then it was all over. In all, the Flyers squeezed out 16 points on just six trips down the floor during the run in the second half to put away an otherwise solid Winthrop program.

While UD was scoring three at a time, the defense made up for a very poor first half with tight man-to-man and zone coverage that stymied the Eagles every trip down the floor. One of the hottest shooting 3-pt FG teams in the nation when the game started, Winthrop never found the range that helped them to four victories in four games before arriving in Dayton. In all, the Eagles sank just 4-19 from behind the arc – a part of their game that must be working to effectively run their offense. Dayton finished 9-24 from behind the three-point line with Doliboa 4-9, Stanley 2-3, and Hall 2-6. While the Flyers got outrebounded 20-16 in the first half, the Flyers finished the game with a 38-30 edge. Tony Stanley finished the game with a double-double, dropping in 17pts and nabbing 10 boards. Doliboa added 16pts while Yuanta Holland had 9pts, 8 rebounds, and a thunderous tomahawk dunk late in the second half. Holland — who had at least two opportunities to throw down a monster jam in the first half – made up for the earlier timidness in the interior to lift the crowd to its feet.

With the improved defensive pressure in the second half, Dayton limited Winthrop to just .327% shooting for the game. With the victory, the diminutive Flyers improve to a surprising 6-0 on the season – a reality not even the most optimistic Flyer Faithful dreamed would happen. The road gets tougher however as Dayton travels to Milwaukee this week for a road game against Marquette at the Bradley Center. The Flyers have had a history of lackluster performances at the Mecca and now the Bradley Center, but hope to keep the momentum rolling and earn their fourth victory away from home in as many games. Marquette is not as talented as a couple years ago, but the Golden Eagles have more than enough firepower and fan support to wax Dayton if the Flyers start reading their own press clippings. If the Flyers stick to the game plan and take each contest one at a time, no game is unwinnable however.

Because of the 6-0 start, many fans are asking if the beloved Flyers will earn their first national ranking in years when the polls come out on Monday. At this point in time, the polls mean nothing. The only thing Flyer Faithful should be concerned about is Marquette and their stingy defense. If fans and players take one game at a time and leave the polls off the topic of conversation, UD has a better chance to focus on the tasks at hand and take care of business. This is how Dayton worked their way to a 6-0 start, and this is how they – and everyone else – need to approach the rest of the season if they wish to see the success continue.