As first impressions go, the 99-00 Dayton Flyers made a lasting one on Friday night as Oliver Purnell’s club overcame the venerable Pit crowd and walked off court with a convincing 70-57 victory in the first round of the CoSIDA Tournament.

For a program riddled with disappointment in so many road games over the last decade, Dayton discarded the monkey off their back by simply outplaying New Mexico in almost every phase of the game. It wasn’t what Dayton did right, it was what the Flyers didn’t do wrong. In short, Dayton is 1-0 on the young season because major mistakes were few and far between. Dayton plays Samford in the tournament final Saturday night at 10:20EST. Samford upset nationally-ranked St. John’s in the first game of the Friday doubleheader.

The Flyers started off the game by trading baskets, working the ball inside to Mark Ashman and Nate Green to expose the lack of height in the Lobo frontcourt. On the defensive end, Dayton played tough halfcourt defense that forced New Mexico to take off-balance jumpshots. Fortunately for Fran Fraschilla’s club, Damion Walker couldn’t be stopped in the early going as he connected on his first five shots and grabbed a handful of offensive rebounds to keep the home team in the ballgame.

The first half belonged to sophomore David Morris however as he nailed a couple huge three-pointers and picked New Mexico’s pocket for a couple steals to help the Flyers assume the lead midway through the first half. Dayton held on to the lead until halftime and kept 18,000 Lobo fans from turning The Pit into a sea of pandamonium.

Dayton started off where they finished the first half by scrapping and clawing for baskets in the paint as Yuanta Holland and Mark Ashman stepped up their games and made invaluable contributions. Tony Stanley, who hit two treys in the first half but played poor overall, upped his game 10 notches with in-your-face defense and timely steals to help the Flyers pull out to a five-point lead with 15 minutes left in the game. New Mexico’s Lamont Long tried to keep the Lobos afloat with a few razzle-dazzle baskets, but the overall offensive prowess of Fraschilla’s team sputtered all night.

The Flyers started pulling away with 10 minutes left in the game as Dayton capitalized on several turnovers and Yuanta Holland’s critical baskets as the game wore down. Holland hit two shots from 10 feet that touched every part of the rim and backboard before falling through the hoop — baskets the Flyers needed to keep New Mexico’s spirits on hiatus.

Mark Ashman, who’s been bothered by a pulled hamstring in the preseason, did anything and everything he wanted in the paint as the senior from St. Mary’s, OH, scored several baskets on his patented turnaround baseline jumper and provided excellent defense in the post. The Lobos are a small team, and it showed. Ashman pushed and scrapped his way on the floor with little resistence and helped Dayton’s perimeter game to thrive in the halfcourt set.

By the time the Flyers opened up their biggest lead of the game — 15 points — the die-hard Lobo fans picked up their coats and started for the exits.

The reason for the Flyer victory is simple: Dayton played well in most phases of the game and had few mistakes or mental breakdowns that haunted this team just a year ago. Normally a team that gets pushed around, the Flyers did the pushing, did the shoving, did the scrapping, and played with an iron fist for the first time in almost two years. The Flyers didn’t pull off an upset in the strictest terms — the Flyers were simply the better team. No if, ands, or buts.

Freshman Brooks Hall finished the game without a single point, but his “Ofer” in the scoring box takes nothing away from his unselfish play. Hall did what he needed to do, when he needed to do it. Other players took over the scoring load so Hall chipped in with a few boards, steals, and assists.

Junior Cain Doliboa had a subpar game and couldn’t connect from long distance all night. But it is encouraging to see a player struggles and have his teammates assume the load and carry on the fight.

Dayton iced the game down the stretch with torrid free throw shooting, finished the night 18-21 from the charity stripe. Ashman finished the game with 14 points and 11 boards, while Stanley chipped in 12 points and 5 boards. David Morris, maybe the MVP of the game, had 17 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals.

The Flyers didn’t shoot well all night, just .397%, and had just 8 assists, but these were the only glaring weaknesses. Overall it was a game the Flyers should be proud of.

Samford will be another tough test for the Flyers. The Bulldogs won 25 games a year ago and return all five starters. Since UNM won’t be the opponent however, the Pit crowd should be a non-factor in the CoSIDA Tournament final.