GAME 23: ST. BONAVENTURE

The Pessimist:
The Bonnies come to town with only eight scholarship players available. With three players out with season ending injuries, one suspension and one player out for the game with a sprained ankle, St. Bonaventure knew coming in that they would have their hands full with the struggling Flyers. Not to disappoint the home crowd, UD looked like the team that many thought they would be this year. Stanley, Ashman and Hall all scored 20+ and two other players scored in double figures as the Flyers won going away, 100-79. (9-14)

The Optimist:
The Bonnies come to town with only eight scholarship players available. With three players out with season ending injuries, one suspension and one player out for the game with a sprained ankle, St. Bonaventure knew coming in that they would have their hands full with the rampaging Flyers. Playing without Brooks Hall, who lightly sprained his ankle during practice, UD looked a little tentative early. It didn’t take Stanley long to get things going again. Fifteen minutes into the game, Stanley had 17 points on his way to an eventual 34. Ashman added 20 and Holland 16 as the Flyers scored 100 for the second time this year, 104-80. (19-4)

GAME 24: TEMPLE

The Pessimist:
At the beginning of the season, this looked like a game that the Flyers could win. Then things began to happen. Bad things for the Flyers and good things for the Owls. Today was no different. The number #4 ranked Owls took apart the Flyers as soon as the opening tip took place. Normally a low scoring team, Temple hit their season high in an 89-56 victory. Things went from bad to worse as Tony Stanley went down with 10 minutes left in the game and did not return. X-rays were taken after the game and it was confirmed that he had indeed broken two fingers on his right hand. He is expected to miss three games. (9-15)

The Optimist:
It was nice to have the Bonnies in town earlier in the week to get the regulars some time off, because with the number #5 ranked Owls visiting, UD knew things would be very different. This game had all the drama of an Ali/Frasier championship fight. The Owls and their wide bodies were in the midst of a 16 game winning streak and were not interested in leaving a loser. Staying in their patented 2-3 zone, the Owls held the Flyers to 39% shooting. Luckily for UD, Temple shot equally as poor at 36%.

The game came down to the last two minutes as neither team could open more than a 3-point lead. With two minutes left, the Flyers had the ball and a lead of 56-54. Purnell had the Flyers use as much of the shot clock as possible, but they waited too long and had to throw up a prayer at the buzzer with Temple rebounding. Working the ball around the perimeter of the Flyer 2-3 zone. The Owls hit a three with 56 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Stanley drove the middle for an attempted lay-up. He not only made the shot, but was fouled. He calmly went to the line and gave the Flyers a 59-57 lead. Temple brought the ball down deliberately and finally penetrated the zone for a short jumper that tied the game.

OP tried to call time out with four seconds left but no one saw him. Young brought the ball down and took an off balance shot that missed everything. For the first time the Flyers were in OT. The Owls got the opening tip, quickly scored and never looked back. The Flyers were 1-9 from the field in OT and lost 70-62. (19-5)

GAME 25: at LASALLE

The Pessimist:
With only four games remaining and no post season possibilities, most would think that the Flyers would be just playing out the string when they got to Philadelphia. They were right, 98-60. (9-16)

The Optimist:
If this were any other year, traveling to Philly for a game against LaSalle would be a worrisome proposition. Not in 2000, however. Despite the first loss at home this year, the Flyers actually moved up to number #16 in the latest USA Today rankings. Favored by 12, the Flyers started off cold, as usual. But, you-know-who came to the rescue. Forming the perfect in-and-out combo, Ashman and Stanley lit the Crusaders up for 15 points apiece in the first half as the Flyers galloped to a 46-34 lead. Unable to stop the inside moves of Ashman and the long range bombing of Stanley, it was time for a junk defense and the triangle and two was dusted off. It worked to perfection in the second half against the two Flyer leaders. Between them, only two shots were taken in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Somebody forgot to tell LaSalle that there is no “I” in team and the rest of the Flyers took over as UD hit 20 wins in the regular season for the first time since any of these guys were alive. (20-5)

GAME 26: RHODE ISLAND

The Pessimist:
This was going to be the year that the Flyers jumped back into the big time. This was going to be the year that the recruiting would continue to bring in the top 100 players and allow us to reload instead of rebuild. This was going to be Ashman and Stanley’s year. Mark kept up his end of the bargain with a 19.2 scoring average, but Stanley had more troubles than he could count. Everything from foul trouble to suspension to injury would keep possibly the most talented Flyer since Rosey from having the kind of season that we all knew he could have. As a result, the Flyers would struggle every time Mark could not carry them. RI was no exception, even though the crowd did its best. 82-56. (9-17)

The Optimist:
Even though they were not the same team without Lamar Odom, the Flyer faithful turned out in droves to see the Flyers take on Rhode Island. With all eyes on a possible number four seed in the tournament, the Flyers knew that they had to win convincingly. The NCAA Selection Committee, if they were watching, would have seen a team with nothing but winning on its collective mind. A team considered by many as a huge surprise, UD was out to show those watching that the first 20 wins were not a fluke.

A surprise, Bami led the charge as the Flyers moved out to a quick 15-6 lead after Ash picked up two ticky-tacks. It was then that Stanley got his second foul and took a seat next to OP, but the Flyers did not let up and continued to increase the lead. With the steady lead, Purnell did not have to make the tough decision to bring back Stanley in the first half. Starting the second half like he had the first, Stanley popped a three from the top of the key for points 7, 8 and 9. In the next 10 minutes, Tony put on a demonstration like this writer has never seen. In those ten minutes, Stanley went 12 for 13 and scored 30 points. With nine minutes left in the game, TS took a seat and watched the rest of the Flyers continue the slaughter, 110-70. (21-5)

GAME 27: DUQUESNE

The Pessimist:
In years past, this would have been a fairly competitive game, not because the Dukes were an outstanding team, but because the Flyers could not win on the road. Well, sports fans, this year was going to be different. This year the Flyers were so bad, that the Duquesne mascot let Rudy beat him up, just so the Flyer fans had something to cheer about, 98-56, Duquesne. (9-18)

The Optimist:
Now number #14, the Flyers were on a roll. Looking to duplicate the manhandling of the Dukes that took place in Dayton, the Flyers played true team ball. Stanley and Doliboa were on fire from the corners all evening, each hitting four threes. Holland and Hall led the way underneath. Between the four they accounted for 95% of the Flyers first half points. Playing as if they were in front of the home folks, the Flyers out-hustled, out-jumped and out-shot the beleaguered Dukes. By the end, three walk-ons were running up and down the court for the Flyers doing mop-up duty. Once again the century mark was owned by the Flyers, 103-65. (22-5)

GAME 28: at VIRGINIA TECH

The Pessimist:
Playing on the road in their last regular season game of their careers, few expected much when Purnell started Ashman, Bamigbola, Cooper, Fitz and Young. The five seniors had seen a lot of hardship in their four years with little fun and fame. Because of the four front court players in the game, most thought that Purnell would go to his normal starters after one or two minutes and all would be back to normal. That was not to be the case as the Flyers started off by hitting their first five shots, blocked three of VT’s shots and jumped to a 10-4 lead at the three minute mark.

With Young handling the ball virtually by himself, the Flyers managed to play unselfish basketball for the first time all year. The lead continued to grow as the score read 23-14 when Bamigbola, Cooper and Fitz sat down. Available for the first time since his finger injury, Stanley was ready to fire away when given the opportunity. He hit his first 3 threes and the Flyers found themselves up 42-29 at the half. That is when the magic ended. OP decided to go back to the big lineup to start the second half and quickly wished he had not. Four possessions and four turnovers later, the Flyers were in a ball game, 42-39. Purnell brought both Hall and Stanley in the game, but that did not help. Within four minutes, the Flyers were down by six. Ashman continued his drive for the draft with 16 second half points to finish with 29, but the Flyers stumbled to loss number 19, 87-80. The season had mercifully ended. (9-19)

The Optimist:
VT had bounced back from the pasting that the Flyers had given them in Dayton to actually contend for the title in the West during the first month and a half of the league schedule. Dayton, however, continued to win and the Hokies had to settle for a fight for second place and a bye in the conference tourney. Today was of supreme importance, as a win would clinch second due to their overall record and their two defeats of GW. They came to play and Tony Stanley selected the wrong time to have an off day. He started off well by dropping a three from the corner, but that would be it for the first half. The rest of the Flyers fought a tough battle and led 34-30 at the half. VT came out in a full-court press that worked the Flyers over as if they had never seen one before.
Virginia Tech scored the first eight points of the half and eventually built the lead to 60-48 with 6:23 to go. Purnell decided that it was time to go with a bigger three-point shooting lineup and moved Hall to the point. In the next four minutes, the three wings combined for 6 of 7 on three-point shooting and the Flyers jumped back in the game at 70-66. With 3:50 left, Hall took what was to be a one-minute breather and Young reentered the game. In the next 3:22, Edwin reminded everyone why he was player of the year in Ohio four years earlier, scoring eight points, collecting four steals, and four assists. The Flyers hung on behind Holland’s 15 and Ashman’s 18 to upend the Hokies 88-84. (23-5) GAMES 29-31: A-10

TOURNAMENT

The Pessimist:
Due to the fact that the Flyers are on probation this year, they were not allowed to participate in the A-10 Tournament. Six days after the close of the season, Oliver Purnell turned in his resignation. He stated that he was disappointed with the progress that he had been able to accomplish with the program. Three days later, Ron Jirsa was named head coach.

The Optimist:
Now #12 in the latest Top-25 poll, the Flyer’s received a first round bye and got a small break as Fordham upset Xavier in the first round and were set to play the Flyers in round two. Having little problem with the tired Rams, UD watched their opponents in Round three – UMass — struggle with VT (24-5). Having received one of their worst losses at the hands of the Minutemen early in the season, the Flyers were not about to let it happen again. UMass started the game in the same fashion that they started the second half of the game at their place. This time, however, we were ready. Full court pressing from the opening tip, UMass felt that the strategy would work again, we knew it wouldn’t. Going with a smaller, quicker line-up of Ashman, Hall, Holland, Stanley and Morris, the Flyers ran through the press early and often. Five minutes into the game, UD was up 18-5 and UMass did not know what hit them. They came out of the press and Doliboa replaced Morris with Hall moving to the point. The threes started immediately and by halftime the Flyers were up 60-29. Although they played us even in the second half, UMass would not forget this loss for a long time, 111-80. (25-5) In the finals, we got the game that everyone was looking forward to, UD and Temple. Temple was now #2 in the country and had little reason to believe that the Flyers would be able to handle them in Philly after beating UD in Dayton. The Flyers had not lost since the last time they played Temple and did not want to slow things down now. Playing a more controlled offense with much better passing and shot selection, the Flyers opened up a six point lead with eight minutes to go in the first half. It was at this point that John Chaney did something that only happens once a decade, he went to a man to man defense.

The crowd quickly found out why he rarely employs it as the Flyers went on a streak of scoring seven straight times they had their hands on the ball. They maintained that lead and were up 40-30 at the half. Temple came out in the second half in the more familiar 2-3 zone and slowly sliced into the lead. With three minutes to go, the Flyer lead was down to three with Temple having possession. It was then that Tony Stanley cemented his bid for first team All-American. Over the next five trips down the court, Temple managed to lose the ball to Stanley’s quick hands three times. On each occasion he turned them into thunder slams and the 1,000 UD fans that had made the trip were on their feet screaming at the top of their lungs. UD went on to win 70-61 and Stanley led the way with 28 points, 8 steals and 12 rebounds. (26-5)

SELECTION SUNDAY

For the first time in 10 years, the Flyers could actually watch selection Sunday knowing that they were in and only worrying about where and who they were going to play. There was a great deal of speculation in the news and radio reports that UD would have a number two seed in the Midwest with all the games to be played in our backyard. It came as a major disappointment when the seedings were released and the soon-to-be-announced USA Today # 8 Flyers, were seeded as a number 6 in the West. After the initial shock wore off, the Flyers were pleased with their draw as our old friend Bobby Knight would have an opportunity to show the administration that they should never have fired DD. It was obvious from the seeding that the NCAA still remembered the Brooks Hall incident and wanted UD to know that they remembered.

GAME 32 NCAA ROUND 1: INDIANA

The Optimist:
The Flyers quickly got over the sleight and began preparing for the journey to Tucson and the McKale Center. After three days of intense preparation, the 12-noon local time game was upon them with the ever-intimidating Bobby Knight just 50 feet away. The game started in typical Bobby Knight slow-down fashion. Although favored by 7 ½, the Flyers showed their nerves early on and only hit two of their first 12 shots. Luckily they did not turn the ball over and hit all six of their free throws. Indiana led 16-10 but the Flyers knew they could play with IU. With 9:07 left in the half, Purnell made one of those moves that brought questioning glances from Flyers fans in the crowd. He pulled Green and brought in little used Ted Fitz. Fitz had only played in mop up rolls for the last two months and came out rusty with two turnovers in the next minute.

OP sent Holland to the scorer’s table at the 7-minute mark to substitute for Fitz, but the he never got in the game, as the next three minutes became Fitz’s highlight film. Over those three minutes, Ted grabbed 5 rebounds, had 2 steals, blocked 1 shot and scored 10 points. Knight finally called timeout as the Hoosier 10-point lead had disappeared. Fitz stayed in the game for the rest of the half and the Flyers eventually built a six point halftime lead. Although he contributed little in the second half, it was Fitz’s three-minute explosion that carried the Flyers to the 20-point win. (27-5)

GAME 33 NCAA ROUND 2: SIENA

The Optimist:
The Siena Saints(14) came calling in round two, upset winners over the Syracuse Orangemen(3) in round one. Siena enters the game with a 20-game winning streak and the amount of respect a no name normally gets when compared to the big boys. Las Vegas saw an upset in the making by listing that game a pick-em despite the disparity in seedings. UD’s impressive win over the Hoosiers in round one made the Flyers a 5-point favorite, however. Siena began the game in a sprint as they usually do featuring five greyhounds in the starting line-up. Five minutes into the game, the Flyers were already bending over trying to catch their breath, trailing 17-6. Using his first timeout of the half, Purnell decided it was time to go to the quickest Flyer team at his disposal.

Featuring a lineup of Hall, Morris, Young, Stanley and Holland, the Flyers began a trek that would find them scoring the next 15 points. When Siena finally stopped the bleeding with a three pointer, the Flyers found themselves up by 1 at 21-20. The rest of the first half was seesaw as OP returned to his starting line-up. Again going with a quick team to start the second half, UD went on a 32-10 spurt to put the game away. For the 12th time in 15 games, the Flyers once again shot over 50%. Morris continued his 12 point, 7 assist pace that he started after game eight of the season. If there is one thing that can be singled out for the Flyer success this season, it would have to be his maturation as a college player. David finished the game within 15 assists of the UD single season assist record. (28-5)

GAME 34 NCAA REGIONAL SEMIS: UCLA

The Optimist:
Making the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1984, the Flyers find themselves in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the second time this year. The hope was that the Flyers would see this as being a little closer to home having already played two games here this year. The task would not be easy as second seeded UCLA stood in their path. UD will never be able to play UCLA again without UD fans talking about the 111-100 overtime loss in the mid seventies. UCLA had stumbled in their last two games of the regular season or they would have easily been a number one seed. Sporting a 27-3 record, the Bruins were tabbed a 7-point favorite. UCLA features a much more physical team than Siena, so the Flyers would have to change their manner of attack to be successful. As a result, Green started in place of Holland and Doliboa started instead of Hall. The early results were mixed as Green quickly picked up two fouls but Doliboa continued his yearlong bombardier accuracy from behind the arc. Holland more than picked up Green with eight first-half points.

This was a game of supreme ups and downs and each team had several spurts. Despite the unevenness of the half, the score was tied at 40 when the first 20 minutes expired. As he had numerous times all season, Tony Stanley decided that the second half would be his. Sitting for only a 60 second break midway through the half, he put on a display of shooting that the tournament had not seen in years. It didn’t matter where he was or who was guarding him, his shot found the bottom of the net. Ringing up 24-second half points allowed the Flyers to open up a lead that never got smaller than four points. Young kept the Bruins at bay with his deadeye free throw shooting in the last two minutes and the Flyers were now ready for the game they have been pointing to, the University of Cincinnati(1).(29-5)

GAME 35 NCAA REGIONAL FINALS: CINCINNATI

The Optimist:
Number 3 ranked Cincinnati made it to the Regional Finals in relatively easy fashion with an average winning margin of 25 points in the first three games of the tournament. UC had only lost two games all season, the latter was to a team they should have handled easily in St. Louis in the first round of the conference tournament. Had they not lost that game, they would have easily been the number 1 seed in the country. Sporting a team of All-Americans, they were again heavily favored to win. Although this was roughly the same team that had taken them down to the wire the previous year, there was no comparison in the level of play. The University of Dayton had come a long way in the 15 months since that last confrontation and UC was not going to take them lightly.

Although favored by 10, UC made all the right statements before the game about how good the Flyers were and that they were for real. When the game got underway they realized that it was all true, UD was for real. Using the three point shooting that had been their trademark all season, the Flyers hit 4 of their first 7 treys and jumped to a 15-8 lead before the first TV timeout. The Bearcats came out in a full court press after the TO and immediately forced the Flyers into two turnovers. Scoring eight straight points, the Bearcats had their first lead at 16-15. The seven-point lead the Flyers had enjoyed was to be the largest in the first half. For the remainder of the half, the teams traded baskets with UC taking their largest lead with a three at the buzzer 41-38. The second half was more of the same as defense was the story of the day. After shooting in the low 40%’s in the first half, the Flyers missed their first 6 shots of the second half. UC only made 1 of 8 during that same period so UD stayed within striking distance.

It was then that Cain Doliboa-Constrictor re-entered the game. Despite hitting just 1 of 7 shots in the first half, Cain came in firing. In the next seven minutes, Doliboa played like a man possessed. In those seven minutes, he lit up the UC defense for six treys. Along with Ashman’s three buckets and Young’s four free throws, the Flyers opened up a six-point lead. That lead grew to 10 with five minutes to go. UC again went to the press, but did not get the results that they were hoping for. Stanley and Hall continued to brake the press easily and the Flyers went on to paste the Bearkittens 83-61. (30-5)GAME 36 NCAA NATIONAL

NATIONAL SEMIFINALS: DUKE

The Optimist:
Most Flyer fans gave little thought as they planned their early April weekends back at the beginning of the season. Picked by most to win 14-15 games this season, the Flyers surprised virtually everyone by even making it into the NCAA tournament. Who would have thought that they would end up in Indianapolis at the Final Four? Having already posted the first 30 win season in the history of the school, a ticket for the Semi-Final against Duke(1) was a very valuable commodity. The odds makers were not yet sure what to make of the Flyers. Despite their impressive 11 game winning streak and the blowout win over Cincinnati, Duke was made an 11 point favorite to play for the national championship on Monday. During pregame introductions, the CBS announcers joked that the end of the benchwarmers for Duke would have been prize recruits for UD and the starters for UD would have been towel boys at Duke. This was not intended to be a slam, but more of a commentary on the state of big-time basketball. Despite this seemingly large disadvantage, UD decided to show up. The only problem was that is all they seemed to do.

Just 2:30 into the game, the Flyers were down 10-0 and OP had called his first time out. We could not throw the ball into the ocean and Duke could not miss going 5 for 6. Morris finally scored our first points at the 5-minute mark cutting the lead to 14-2. This game seemed to mimic the Championship game against UCLA eons ago when the Flyers fell behind quickly and never were in the game. It remained a 13-19 point game the rest of the half and UD found themselves down 40-23 at the half. In any other year, most of us would have turned off the TV and gotten ready for the second game that evening, but this was not that year. To begin the second half, the Flyers went with the same quick team the brought us back against Siena, (Hall, Morris, Young, Stanley and Holland). As it did against Siena, this team drove Duke to drink.

Quicker than the Dukies big men, we continually trapped and came up with steals. Before anyone could get that second ham sandwich from the fridge, the lead was down to eight. For the next 7:43, it was a game of spurts with UD having one more than Duke. With two minutes remaining the score stood at 76-75 with Duke ahead. The Flyers took time out and set up a play for Stanley. As time ran down on the shot clock, Bami set a solid pick for Stanley who managed to dribble the ball off his foot. The Gods must have been looking our way as Hall retrieved the loose ball and buried a three and the Flyers had their first lead of the game, 78-76. Duke brought the ball down and took their time looking for a good shot. With four seconds on the shot clock they missed not one but three lay-ups and Ashman rebounded with 28 seconds between the Flyers and the championship game.

UD called time and brought in the best foul shooters available. As soon as the ball was inbounded, Stanley was fouled. Being only the sixth team foul the Flyers needed to inbound again. With 19 seconds remaining Young inbounded to Hall who dribbled the ball to his left. He was immediately hammered with no call. The ball popped loose and Duke recovered. Working the ball around for a possible game-winning shot, a three was launched with five seconds remaining. The ensuing rebound was tipped several times before the ball rested on the rim for the slightest of seconds and the buzzer sounded. The season was in the balance and the ball fell the wrong way for the Flyers and they were on their way to overtime.

The next five minutes were filled with as much action as an overtime could be. Instead of the normal conservative pace that tends to take place, both teams got on their horse and let it fly. The lead changed hands six times during that period of time with four ties. As the clock wound down, the score was tied at 92-92, as the Flyers would have the last shot. Moving around the perimeter, Morris spotted Ashman open underneath, fired the ball inside and just as he reached for the ball and Duke hand reached in for the steal as the buzzer sounded. The second overtime started much the same as the first with both teams running up and down the court.
This was not to be the Flyers day however as both Stanley and Ashman fouled out within two minutes. Each had played 42 minutes at that point and almost fell over as they reached the bench. One of the most exciting games in UD history ended almost quietly as the lack of depth showed in the last three minutes. Duke scored eight of the last 12 points and won 106-101. Stanley led the way with 38 points while Ashman made a statement to the NBA with his 28 point, 13 rebound effort. (30-6)

THE POSTSEASON AWARDS

Stanley and Ashman were named to the all-tournament team. Both made the first team A-10 while Hall made the All Newcomer Team and Doliboa won the Chris Daniels Most Improved Player award. Stanley was named Player of the Year in the A-10 and Second Team All-American. Purnell was named A-10 Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year by the AP, the Sporting News and the Basketball Writers of America. He was offered the North Carolina job after the season and turned it down stating that he loved the Dayton community and appreciated the faith that the Flyer Faithful had shown him in the earlier years. Despite his success this year Stanley announces that he will stay his senior year to complete some unfinished business. In the Spring signing period, the Flyers sign the top two remaining big men and the number three point guard in the country. They also announce that they will be enlarging the UD Arena by 5,000 seats and adding a new scoreboard – complete with a Jumbotron.