The University of Dayton Flyers’ 1999-2000 Victory Tour added another feather to its cap tonight. By defeating the Texas A&M University Aggies 81-68, the Flyers improved to 9-1 on the season and succeeded in putting the loss against Cleveland State behind them.

At times, the Flyers looked smooth and in control, building a seemingly insurmountable lead of 22 points with 6:46 to play. But, as has been the Aggies custom this year, A&M clawed to within 7 with 1:39 to play. Dayton would not be denied however, as David Morris (13 pts, 5 ast) sank six straight free throws to close out the scoring.

Before recapping the game, however, a couple news items:

Stephen Bamigbola was not with the team tonight. Apparently, he has been AWOL since Monday and missing practices. Flyer coach Oliver Purnell has been in contact with Bamigbola, and has indicated that Stephen is not in any physical harm. He will meet with him within the next day or so.

There is still no official word on the status of Cain Doliboa. According to Mark Adams in his Flyer Feedback show, he spoke with Cain and found it was a bulging disk in his back. There is still no time frame on when Cain will be back in the Flyer rotation, but the doctor’s estimates range from 2 weeks to 6-8 weeks. Dayton opened the game tonight by getting two quick three pointers in the first minute to play, one from Tony Stanley (12 pts) and the other from Edwin Young (14 pts, 5 ast) – two players that struggled vs. CSU. Two Stanley free throws put the Flyers up 8-0 after 90 seconds. For the next 10 minutes of play, the UD lead stayed in the neighborhood of 5-7 points, until Young went on a personal 8-2 run to put the Flyers in front by 10 with 10:04 to play.

After A&M whittled the lead down to four on a Jamaal Gilchrist (4 pts) field goal, the Aggies employed a box and one defense on Stanley, with the much taller Aaron Jack (8 pts, 11 rbs) shadowing the UD guard. Brooks Hall (12 pts, 7 rbs) rose to the challenge by hitting three straight three pointers — two from the wing and one from the opposite corner in transition after a Yuanta Holland (8 pts) steal. Wiith a 13-point deficit facing them, the Aggies called a timeout. The two teams traded baskets after that point and UD went into the locker room with a 40-25 lead before the 12,824 fans in attendance. In the second half, UD was able to extend the lead by continuing their hot shooting and unselfish play – again, in direct contrast to the CSU contest. A Morris three pointer with 15:26 to play helped Dayton take a 17-point lead at 51-34, and the team (and fans) were pretty much on cruise control. Another 10-2 run gave UD a 22 point lead, but then the Aggies got hot.

A Tomas Ress (8 pts) 3-ball put the finishing touches on a 16-4 run, and the easy time the Flyers were having with the Aggies suddenly vanished. One Flyer timeout later, Purnell settled the team down and inserted foul shooters in the game. Morris sank six straight free throws to finish the scoring.| Overall, Dayton did a nice job with the defensive pressure. The Aggies were limited to 39% shooting in the first half, and just 11% from the three-point line before getting hot in the final six minutes to cause some uneasy moments for the Flyer Faithful. On the offensive end, UD was able to capitalize on Brooks Hall’s shooting after A&M tried to take Tony Stanley out of the game with the box and one defense. His three treys led the way for UD as the Flyers blistered the Arena for 50% shooting from the field and 57% from beyond the arc in the first half.

Other positive play included Mark Ashman’s very quiet 17 points, including 9-9 from the line. The highlight of the night came on an Ashman dunk along the baseline after collecting a behind-the-back bounce pass from Edwin Young in the middle of the paint. Nate Green played a particularly strong second half. He had seven rebounds to go with unselfish play, and was not afraid to mix things up when A&M got more physical late in the game. It was a solid win for a team that has to turn around and face old Great Midwest nemisis St. Louis on Thursday. Only torrid shooting late in the game got the Aggies close. One final note, to go along with Chris’ story about the “corporatization” of the Arena…why must the cheerleaders insist on throwing items into the stands while the game is going on? Please wait till a time-out, and don’t make me keep one eye on flying basketballs, t-shirts, and piggy banks.