GAME 6: WINTHROP

The Pessimist:
Fresh from an NCAA invite and a 15-1 run at the end of the season last year the young team from the Big South conference came to the Arena with a boatload of confidence. Knowing that they need a win to level the record at 3-3 the Flyers did not let the no-name team from a no-name conference get in the way. Outperforming Winthrop at every phase of the game, the Flyers led throughout the match and pull away at the end for a 76-55 victory. Tony Stanley continued to struggle from the field but still led the Flyers with 23 points of 8 for 19 scooting. (3-3)

The Optimist:
The no-names continue, as we brace for the Winthrop Whatevers. Although happy with Young’s overall work on the court, Purnell likes what he sees of Morris and makes his first change in the starting lineup. Morris responds to the vote of confidence with probably his best game at the college level. Day-Day scores 14, dishes out 10 assists and makes five steals. Winthrop is hampered by their lack of an experienced point guard and fall hard to the home standing Flyers, 87-55. (5-1)

GAME 7: at MARQUETTE

The Pessimist:
Once again we find ourselves on enemy territory. Those familiar with the Flyer’s road woes know that they have not had a winning season on the road since the mid-sixties. This year appears to be no different. Stanley continues to frustrate Purnell with his inability to shoot on the road. Despite an outstanding game from the duo of Doliboa and Hall the Flyers turn the ball over 23 times and shoot 39% from the field. We get out rebounded 40-17 as the Golden Eagles gain their measure of revenge in an 87-56 victory. Doliboa and Hall combine to score 38 of the Flyers 56 points. (3-4)

The Optimist:
No one, especially the Warriors, oops, I mean, the Golden Eagles can forget the pasting that they received from the Flyers at the Arena last season. The building was packed with the crowd on its feet from the beginning of the game. The Golden Eagles did not displease their fans as they roared to an early 23-14 lead. OP inserted Nate Green in the lineup to help with the rebounding on the offensive boards and Nate did what he was born to do. With 10 minutes left in the half, Green put on a clinic for the Milwaukee fans. Time after time, he put back misses for easy baskets. By halftime the Flyers had pulled even and Green had 8 ‘bounds. It didn’t get any better for Marquette in the second half as the Flyers won their sixth straight game 78-72, behind Ashman’s 19 points and Greens 14 rebounds. (6-1)

GAME 8: COASTAL CAROLINA

The Pessimist:
The biggest cheer of the entire evening goes to Pete Strickland and several signs pop up in the arena asking for OP and Pete to switch jobs. Despite the somewhat neutral crowd, the Flyers play reasonably well on their way to a 74-56 victory over a team that is still looking for its first win. Young leads the way with 14 points off the bench. All but two are scored from the foul line. (4-4)

The Optimist:
Despite improved recruiting by Pete Strickland, CC comes in a 30-point underdog to the soaring Flyers. Back from their first big road win in years, the Flyers refuse to let up and bury CC early with torrid three-point shooting. The Flyers have 10 threes by the half and lead 51-39. The show continues as Stanley finishes with career high 32 points. Purnell shows that he is not afraid to change a winning combination by moving Stanley to the QF position and Hall to shooting guard. Both flourish in the new positions, as the Flyers win by 29. (7-1)

GAME 9: at CLEVELAND STATE

The Pessimist:
Remembering the NCAA tournament-killing victory by the Vikings just two years ago, the Flyers bus to Cleveland with nothing but winning on their minds. Improving annually, Cleveland State will be even more difficult to beat on their home court. The game starts off with several misses and turnovers with neither team taking charge. After 12 minutes only 24 points have been scored, as both teams struggle to find the bottom of the net. In the last eight minutes of the half, the Vikings begin to pull away with strong offensive rebounding. The Flyers find themselves looking at the wrong side of a 36-25 score as they retreat to their locker room. OP again asks for miracles from Nate Green and moves Holland to QF. The bigger lineup seems to work as Hall gets some time at PG. The Flyers inch back and pull to within 61-60 with 45 seconds to go.

Cleveland State takes their time with the ball and the point guard finds a seam down the middle with three seconds left on the shot clock for an easy two. OP calls time out and sets up a play for Stanley. Cleveland State does not let the Flyers pull off the play by fouling immediately. Ashman makes the first of two, but misses the second. With four seconds left on the game clock the rebound gets tipped back nearly to center count. Morris picks it up and throws up a desperation trey from 35 feet. As the horn sounds, the ball crashes up against the backboard and the Flyers suffer another tough road defeat, 63-61. (4-5)

The Optimist:
Remembering the NCAA tournament-killing victory by the Vikings just two years ago, the Flyers bus to Cleveland with nothing but winning on their minds. Improving annually, Cleveland State will be even more difficult to beat on their home court. The game starts off with several misses and turnovers with neither team taking charge. After 12 minutes only 24 points have been scored, as both teams struggle to find the bottom of the net. In the last eight minutes of the half, the Vikings begin to pull away with strong offensive rebounding. The Flyers find themselves looking at the wrong side of a 36-25 score as they retreat to their locker room. OP again asks for miracles from Nate Green and moves Holland to QF.

The bigger lineup seems to work as Hall gets some time at PG. The Flyers inch back and pull to within 61-60 with 45 seconds to go. Cleveland State takes their time with the ball and the point guard finds a seam down the middle with 3 seconds left on the shot clock for an easy two. OP calls time out and sets up a play for Stanley. Cleveland State does not let the Flyers pull off the play by fouling immediately. Ashman makes the first of two, but misses the second. With four seconds left on the game clock the rebound gets tipped back nearly to center count. Morris picks it up and throws up desperation trey from 35 feet. As the buzzer sounds, the ball touches the bottom the twine and the Flyers escape with a 64-63 miracle win. (8-1)

GAME 10: TEXAS A&M

The Pessimist:
Even though the Flyers have been struggling for most of the year, they are listed as 15 point favorites before the game. What the bookmakers did not know was that Brooks Hall would again sprain his left ankle. Luckily, it didn’t happen until the second half with the Flyers up by 15. The Aggies pressed during the last 10 minutes of the game and probably would have won if the games was 42 minutes long instead of 40. The Flyers escape with a 65-62 victory as Young hit 5 of 6 free throws in the last minute. Bad news the next morning is that Hall has a slightly torn ligament and will be out for a minimum of three weeks. (5-5)

The Optimist:
Because they finished 12-15 last year with most of the wins coming early in the season against the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Aggies do not seem to be much of a force to slow down the rampaging Flyers. The nice thing about the Flyers this year is that there are so many weapons, it is not possible to completely shut them down. If one of the wings is having an off night, the other two seem to pick it up. If Ashman gets in foul trouble, OP goes with a smaller lineup that seems to get the job done. Tonight was no exception as the Flyers breezed to an easy 45-35 lead at the half. Again, Stanley led the pack, with Hall and Ashman right behind. It got no tougher in the second half as the Flyers win going away 82-67. Stanley now has his average up to 21.3. Ashman is next with 18.9. Holland leads in rebounds with 7.8. (9-1)

GAME 11: ST. LOUIS

The Pessimist:
St. Louis comes into town on the heels of a six-game winning streak. For the first time this year, the Flyers are underdogs at home. Once again the bookies look like geniuses as the Flyers fall to Conference-USA for the second time this year, 76-66. (5-6)

The Optimist:
St. Louis comes into town wondering if in the next few years they will be part of the Altantic 10. Again the Flyers are heavily favored and riding a nine game winning streak. Early on the 12,019 in the Arena can tell it is not the Flyers night. Time after time, the miss wide open lay-ups and allow the Billikans to stick around. This all comes back to haunt them as St. Louis goes on a 10-0 at the 15-minute mark of the second half. Despite Ashman’s 27 points, the Flyers lose 67-61. (9-2)

GAME 12: MIAMI (OH)

The Pessimist:
When the season started, this looked like a good opportunity to stop the nine game losing streak to the Miami Red Hawks. With the loss of Hall for three weeks and the tardy arrival at practice for Holland, the Flyers looked undermanned and proved it toward the end of the first half. With Doliboa in foul trouble, the Flyers had difficulty scoring as John Marshal, a walk-on, even found his way to the court. Down by 12 at the half, it stayed that way the majority of the second half. The final score of 66-60 is more than a little deceiving in that the Flyers hit 2 threes in the last 10 seconds of the game. Despite his foul trouble Doliboa led the Flyers with 14 points. (5-7)

The Optimist:
Trying to bounce back from a difficult loss at the hands of St. Louis, the Flyers face the always-pesky Miami Red Hawks. Having lost nine consecutive times to Miami, the Flyers are bound and determined to turn things around. With the exclamation point on a 9-0 run being a beautiful ally-oop from Young to Stanley, the Flyers lead at the half 43-30. Stanley leads all scorers with 18 points and 7 rebounds. More of the same in the second half as the Flyers play keep-away from the Red Hawks and win 78-60. Stanley continues his hot first half of the season with 27 points. Holland contributes eight rebounds off the bench as he was late for a mid-week practice and started the game sitting next to OP. (10-2)

GAME 13: VIRGINIA TECH

The Pessimist:
It is becoming more and more obvious that the Flyers desperately need Brooks Hall in the lineup. Doliboa has been holding his own, but moving Young to shooting guard when the two available wings take a rest has been disastrous. Tonight did not change things in that respect. Despite the fact that the crowd was all over the Hokies from the start, the Flyers could not keep up. VT erased a six point lead just before the half and led by one at intermission. The score stayed close for much of the second half until Tony Stanley caught fire with 5:13 to go. Tony scored on each of the next four possessions and the Flyers hung on for a 76-73 victory. (6-7)

The Optimist:
Selected to be in the lower half of the West this year, VT has been playing better than expected. Knowing that they will be leaving the conference in the near future, the Hokies expected to get their share of boos and they were not disappointed. The crowd was into the game from the tip-off and never slowed down. The Flyers made it look easy as they raced out to a 12-2 lead and never looked back. Ashman had 15 points and 7 rebounds at the half and had the majority of the VT front line in foul trouble. The Hokies made a run at the beginning of the second half but Cain took over with another of his three-point parades and the Flyers easily took care of Virginia Tech 88-66. (11-2)