The Dayton Flyers beat Athletes in Action 75-52 Wednesday night with defense — a rarity for the first dress rehearsal of the season. That was the case however as the Flyers became masters of thievery and stole the ball from AIA seemingly with ease all evening to win easily before a sizeable crowd at the UD Arena. Dayton hosts the Premier All Stars on Nov. 13, in the last exhibition game of the preseason before boarding a flight to the islands for the Maui Invitational.

Dayton’s offense got off to a slow start as nobody in a white uniform could drop one through the hoop, but things were okay because AIA had trouble even getting off shots on the other end of the court. The Flyers hounded the former has-beens of college and pro ball with one steal after another by jumping in the passing lanes, picking pockets, and forcing errant passes altogether. With 13 minutes gone in the first half, Dayton had conceded just 13 points. On the other hand, Dayton’s inability to convert on the offensive end kept the game competitive. The Flyers managed a 25-11 lead just before halftime — the largest of the game thus far — but AIA scored the final six including a trey at the buzzer to trim the deficit to 25-16 at intermission.

The Flyers let AIA cut the lead to six at 28-22 at the beginning of the second half, but that’s as close as it would get as Brooks Hall dropped in three treys in short order to help push Dayton out in front for good. The lead grew to 20pts with seven minutes left in the game and the UD coaching staff moved quickly to get the starters on the pine and the newcomers on the court for valuable game experience. Before long, a lineup of Ramod Marshall, Stan King, Sammy Smith, Keith Waleskowski, and Sean Finn saw the floor and primarily stayed there until the end of the game. Newcomers and veterans alike all saw quality minutes and had a chance to lose the butterflies and burn some lactic acid. In all, 10 players played 10 minutes or more — with only Jason Osborne as the lone scholarship player to miss the cut. He sat out Wednesday’s game in anticipation of a knee scope procedure any day now.

Individually, the Flyers were a balanced attack all evening as no one lit up the scoreboard and walked away a superstar. Seven players scored seven or more points but no one totaled more than 11 as Hall, Stanley, and Morris tied for top scoring honors. Sean Finn added nine points and led the team with seven rebounds. As a team, five players had five or more boards as UD outrebounded AIA 43-39. The two biggest stats however were on the defensive end. The Flyers collected 13 steals and limited AIA to a meager .228% shooting from the field. Known for their lethal outside attack, AIA connected on just five of 27 three-pointers while committing 26 turnovers. On the other hand, Dayton committed 20 turnovers as well — far too many for an average scoring game.

Point guard play was solid as Morris contributed 11pts, 5 boards, and 3 assists with 3 turnovers, while freshman Ramod Marshall had 4pts, a team-high 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and 3 turnovers. Stan King showed brief flashes of potential, but 5 turnovers in 14 minutes of action earned him an earful from Coach Purnell on several occasions. King is extremely athletic and can do many things, but has a tendency to leave his feet and get caught in the air with few options.

Yuanta Holland had a quiet game, scoring 5pts, nabbing just one rebound, and committing 4 turnovers. Dayton will need a more productive Holland as the regular season starts as the Dayton Christian product started the game at center for the Flyers. Brooks Hall had an average game for his standards and didn’t pull down a rebound in 24 minutes — nearly unheard of for such a good rebounder. Sammy Smith played 15 minutes and showed a good first step, but refused to pull the trigger on several occasions when he was open for a shot. Smith still has some butterflies it appeared but more playing time should cure that just as it cured Hall’s symptoms a year ago. Sean Finn, 6-11, showed real promise as he scored 9pts and nabbed 7 rebounds in just 11 minutes. Finn kept the ball high on most of his touches and went to the rim immediately for easy stick-ins. Finn has a ways to go — and needs another 25-30lbs of muscle — but there’s definitely potential in his future if he keeps working hard. Nate Green looked good as well and could be a factor this season.

For the game, Dayton shot .421% from the floor and .710% from the line, but connected on just 5 of 19 treys. The Flyers held the edge in assists 16-9.