The Dayton Flyers got back on the winning track Wednesday night with an 83-70 victory over the Fordham Rams at venerable Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx, NY. The Flyers got hot from the outside and stayed hot through much of the game, avoiding the frequent second half shooting pitfalls from long range that have plagued the team this season. Dayton lifts its record to 17-11 (8-7) while Fordham drops to 12-15 (4-11) on the season.

Dayton got off to a hot start, shooting well from three-point range in the early going to open up leads of 11-5 and 21-7. Ramod Marshall, Brooks Hall, and David Morris hit from behind the arc to put the Flyers ahead, but as most Dayton fans have come to realize, sharp three-point shooting at the beginning of the game has often meant a flurry of ill-advised three-point shots in the second half that negates the good start. Fortunately, the Flyers kept much of the momentum going in the first 20 minutes as the Fordham Rams couldn’t hang on to the basketball and missed easy fast-break opportunities to cut into the Flyer lead.

The Flyers built a 15pt lead but Fordham clawed back and cut the deficit to under 10 just a couple minutes later. The Flyers owned a 41-32 advantage at halftime despite a quiet half by Tony Stanley. Keith Waleskowski and Yuanta Holland did some damage on the interior to keep the Rams honest, but by and large, it was offense and not defense that gave Dayton a nice cushion heading into the locker room.

The second half started off rather unorganized as both teams committed several turnovers to begin the final frame. Dayton continued to rely on the three-point shot as Marshall dialed in from long distance, but Jason Harris answered shortly thereafter and the margin remained steady with a 53-43 Dayton lead with 15 minutes to play.

The Flyer lead quickly fell to six however on two ill-advised treys by Brooks Hall and Tony Stanley, but Hall redeemed himself with two quick-triggered connections from long-range on subsequent trips. Clearly, the Flyers were going to live or die by the three-point shot once again.

Dayton took a 65-52 lead at the nine-minute mark when Waleskowski hit a short basket to give the Flyers their biggest lead of the half up to that point. Oliver Purnell’s club was never seriously threatened again as the lead stayed around 10pts the rest of the way to snap a two-game losing skid and improve Dayton to 17-11 (8-7) on the year with an 83-70 decision at Rose Hill Gymnasium.

By hitting their shots and keeping Fordham relatively honest on the defensive end, Dayton was able to maintain control of the game from start to finish without ever succumbing to a fatal tailslide. The Rams’ largest runs of the game never exceeded three or four baskets and the Flyers usually answered them with a timely trey or two-point basket.

Brooks Hall led all Flyer scorers with 16pts, while Ramod Marshall added 15pts and Keith Waleskowski 11pts and 8rbs. Jeff McMillan was held to just 2pts and 3rbs while senior guard Bevon Robin was held scoreless. The Ram offense was spotty at best and continues to drive Head Coach Bob Hill to long walks in the dead of night along the Bronx streets near Fordham University. The Rams looked like a postseason teams just one month ago, but have lost nine of their last 10 games.

Dayton hosts Xavier in the regular season finale at the UD Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Muskies are nationally-ranked for the first time all season and have the firepower to cause Dayton a lot of problems. Dayton must find a way to contain Xavier’s perimeter game and not get overly committed to stopping David West — a player who will probably get his average anyway. UD has had great success at home in recent years against the Muskies, but the Flyers have had problems holding court this year.