It wasn’t pretty. A number of deficiencies were exposed. They need a lot of polishing. But the Dayton Flyers made enough plays and withstood several challenges for a 102-93 win over Ural Great Tuesday night.

A well-represented crowd of nearly 7,000 fans watched the Flyers trade baskets with the Russians for the first 10 minutes of the first half, then fell behind by six before putting on a late surge before halftime to claim a comfortable 57-40 lead. With freshman PG David Morris supplying the only life into the Flyer offense, UD cashed in on several transition baskets as Ural Great hurt themselves with costly turnovers and mental mistakes. Still, by halftime, Dayton’s scoresheet was balanced with 5-7 players netting between 7 and 10 points apiece. As PA announcer Charlie Robinson read the halftime stats however, one wondered how Dayton managed the 17pt advantage at the intermission. The Russians shot 50% from the field and outrebounded the Flyers, but killed themselves with 14 turnovers – many of which were the result of overzealous plays a team might not make in midseason form. The Russians ended the game with no fewer than five lane violations at the free throw line.

In the second half, the Russians chipped away the the Flyer lead early, cutting the deficit to three on several occasions but not possessing enough firepower to overtake the depth and resilience of the home team.

In a surprise, Oliver Purnell started Ted Fitz at power forward and Mark Ashman at center. Fitz, who added 20lbs over the summer, looks much bigger but still lacks the god-given ability to make a lot of plays for the Flyers. Tony Stanley, Edwin Young, and Coby Turner rounded out the starting lineup.

Despite the win however, the performance indicated that Dayton has a long way to go before any talk of an NCAA bid is addressed. Of major disappointment was the defense. The experienced Russians broke UD’s halfcourt and transition defense down much too easily, getting easy baskets seemingly at will during points of the contest. While UD’s 3-pt defense was a strength last season, Ural Great fired up many wide open treys that found the net and kept them in the game. Stephen Bamigbola came off the bench for the Flyers but struggled offensively and defensively, indicating that he has many steps to take before Flyer fans can count on him battling toe to toe against the best of the A-10. Matt Cooper saw limited action. Unless the Flyers find an inside presence soon, it could be a long year if the perimeter players are the only strong cogs in Dayton’s arsenal.

Andy Metzler, Cain Doliboa, Nate Green, and Yuanta Holland didn’t show enough in their first debut for DFE to form an opinion on.

On the positive side, the Flyers were outstanding at the foul line, and David Morris showed why he may give Oliver Purnell something to think about when its time to grab the pencil and piece together a starting lineup on opening night against Kent State.

In all, Dayton proved it has what it takes to win a game it should. It’s a good start and the coaching staff has this victory to build on before Saturday night’s game against Athletes in Action (AIA), a group of hoopsters who recently up-ended Georgia Tech. Look for a stronger focus on defensive tenacity, better rebounding, and fewer mental mistakes. With everything said, fans can only wonder how many of those rebounds Ryan Perryman would have collected were he still suiting up in a Flyer uniform — the outcome would have been more one-sided. His rebounding and leadership are gone, but his shining example is not. The Dayton Flyers must not forget the lessons they’ve learned from watching Perryman the last four seasons or Oliver Purnell will have a handful of Maalox moments throughout the 1998-99 season.