POSTSEASON A-10 TOURNAMENT

Xavier, Temple, UMass, GW, and Dayton received byes in the first round of the conference tournament and got to relax while the others needed to struggle through the first day of games. Only one time had a team played all four days and won the A-10 automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. By finishing third in the league, the Flyers got to play the winner of the LaSalle-St. Joe’s game, played the night before. As often happens in conference tournaments, the underdog won. LaSalle had only won four games in the conference all season, but upset the #6 seed St. Joseph’s Hawks and won the right to play UD.LaSalle

With Tony Stanley back, the Flyers were up to speed and determined to turn around their 2-3 record of the last two weeks. In an effort to get control of the game early and rest as many regulars as possible, Purnell opened with a full-court press after every score. The Explorers responded well in the early going to any pressure that the Flyers attempted and actually took a short-lived lead at 11-10 behind Rasual Butler and Victor Thomas. As has happened with LaSalle all year, they then hit a brick wall. For the next five minutes, they forgot how to make a shot and played their usual style of matador defense. With that opening, the Flyers forged to a 27-13 lead behind Stanley, Finn, and Hall.

The remainder of the game was more of a slow waltz to the gas chamber, as neither team seemed to play inspired basketball. The score would indicate that both teams played good defense, but in reality unforced turnovers and poor foul shooting kept the game scoring low. The final of 76-56 allowed the Flyers to rest the starters and give the younger Flyers an opportunity to get some tournament playing time. Stanley, once again, led the Flyers in scoring and Yuanta Holland seemed to come alive in the second half and hauled down 10 rebounds, the most he has had since early in the season.

The 22-7 Flyers were now assured of a post season appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but each game held a good deal of importance as their seeding could be affected significantly by their performance in the next few days. The Temple Owls were now awaiting the Flyers in the semi-finals and the ability to rest some of the regulars in the LaSalle game would be important, because Temple always plays an aggressive and physical game.

Temple

With both teams virtually assured of a birth in the NCAA Tournament, this game became one of bragging rights as both team had won on their home court and was looking to win the rubber match in the neutral location of Philadelphia, PA. Playing their second consecutive game against a local team, the Flyers had gotten used to the somewhat hostile environment that they would be facing. Temple was a very different team however, and brought three times as many fans as had LaSalle. This was going to be a battle and the Flyers knew it.

Like most games with Temple, this game started off slowly as the defensive intensity was at a fever pitch. The pushing and shoving underneath continued to escalate during the first half as the referees seemed to care more about getting the game completed than they worried about calling fouls. As a result, Temple controlled the boards from the start and it was their second chance opportunities that gave them the halftime lead at 32-29.

The second half apparently found a change of heart with the officials and the game turned into a procession to the foul line. Had this been 1999-2000, the Flyers would have been in trouble due to their lack of depth under the basket. This was truly one of those games that having three guys that could play center really made a difference as Finn picked up two fouls in the first 1:30 of the second half and Waleskowski added two more in the next three minutes.

Holland picked up the slack and scored three times on offensive rebounds. He managed to keep Temple off the boards well enough for the Flyers to stay in the game and give Stanley the opportunity to hit a three at the buzzer to give the Flyers a 61-59 victory and the chance to play Xavier in the Finals.

Xavier

One of the most difficult things to accomplish in sports is to beat the same team three different times in the same season. Even though Xavier won the regular season A-10 Championship, Dayton seemed to have their number. Beating them in Cincinnati for the first time in more than 20 years and beating them less than a week before without their leading scorer would make even the biggest fan just a little afraid of the Muskies this time around. Dayton entered the game as a two-point favorite with the potential of an excellent seed in the NCAA tourney on the line for the winner.

Dayton started off more conservatively than they had in the two previous games due to the fact that they had played two games in the last two days and stayed out of the full-court press. Xavier started off shooting well and took the lead at 7-6 with three minutes gone. Xavier utilized the full-court press with little success as David Morris and Ramod Marshall had little problem weaving in and out between defenders. However, their ability to hit a three whenever Dayton got close enabled them to maintain the lead for the remainder of the half and they led 45-42.

Potential A-10 Player of the Year David West took Xavier on his back in the second half as the Musketeers actually worked at moving the ball to the interior instead of their normal long-range bombing. This was one time that the inexperience of the Dayton big men really showed. West was fouled numerous times as Waleskowski and Finn continued to bite on the first fake or were just flat-out beaten by a superior move. Stanley and Company did their best to keep UD in the game, but it just wasn’t to be on this day and UD fell to Xavier 87-80. The 23-8 Flyers would now have to wait until Sunday evening to know for sure that they were to make it to the Tournament and just where and when they would play.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Unlike the previous year when the players had to wait until the last match-up was shown, they quickly found out that they were in the tournament and whom they would be playing. For the first time since they got to play Villanova at home, the Flyers would find themselves in the same time zone. In the very first bracket announced, UD found that they received a #5 seed and would be playing #12 seed, Kent from the MAC.

First Round — Kent State

Picked by many to win their division in the well-balanced MAC, Kent started off slowly and probably wouldn’t have made it into the NCAA tournament if they hadn’t won the MAC post-season tournament. They won the last seven games of the regular season and the tourney sweep brings them in with a 10-game winning streak. Dayton on the other hand stumbled toward the end of the season and split their last eight games. Kent is led by junior guard Trevor Huffman who was their leader in scoring the last two seasons despite coming off the bench in 1999-00. What has made Kent a much better team is the development of 7-footer John Edwards. Edwards had not played a great deal coming into the season and improved slowly until the beginning of the winning streak. At that point, he became much more aggressive inside and gave the Golden Flashes an interior option.The Flyers were favored by seven, but the thought of playing a #12 seed is always a scary situation. The first 10 minutes found both teams playing aggressive defense and shooting poorly. Finn picked up two quick fouls, as has been his tendency against bigger centers. Waleskowski however came in and more than held his own against the bigger and stronger Edwards. Stanley led the Flyers offensively with 3-5 shooting and helped on the offensive boards with two stick-backs. The Flyers held a 15-13 lead when Hall found the rhythm. Over the next 10 possessions, Hall hit three three-point shots, made two steals, and rebounded a Stanley miss. The Flyers suddenly held a 31-20 lead and maintained the nine-point lead until the buzzer sounded.

Kent came out with a three-guard offense to start the second half to try to shut down Hall and Stanley and get back in the ballgame. The smaller lineup might have slowed down Hall, but Finn and Green took over under the basket. Each scoring eight points over the next 12 minutes gave the Flyers a comfortable lead that eventually reached 18 points. The final of 80-68 gave the Flyers their 24th win of the season and moved them into a second round game with number #3 seed North Carolina.

Second Round — North Carolina

Before the season started, most prognosticators suggested that the Tar Heels’ season would be determined by the play of two individuals, seven footer Brendan Haywood and 6-4 shooting guard Joseph Forte. They were not wrong. When they were both on, it was blowout city. When just one was on it was still a win. When neither was on, UNC was in trouble. Somehow, some way, UD was going to have to keep both of these All-Americans in check if they hoped to win this game. North Carolina has had a recent history of winning games they shouldn’t and losing games they shouldn’t in the NCAA Tournament. They were favored by six points in this one.This was the game that Tony Stanley had been waiting for during his four years at UD. This was a nationally-televised game that could solidify his chances of being selected in the first round of the NBA draft. For the first time in more than a decade, Dayton had a player who averaged over 20 points a game at 21.6. Stanley had done whatever it took to win games all year and it was obvious from the opening tip that he wasn’t going to let the Flyers lose on this day. In the first eight minutes, Stanley had two steals, three deflections, four rebounds and eight points.

This was all against the All-American, Forte who was 1-5 from the field with only four points. The Flyers were ahead by six with 12 minutes to go in the half and for the next 30 minutes neither team could give the other a knockout punch. Both had spurts, but in every case the other team fought back to keep it within five at all times.It was the last two minutes that defined this game as one of the most exciting that the Flyers have ever participated in. North Carolina held a five-point lead and the ball with just under two minutes remaining on the clock. Purnell went to his small lineup with Green at center and went to a half court trapping defense. The ploy worked as the first time down the court UNC was not expecting it, and turned it over to Stanley who raced down the court and popped a three to cut the lead to two. On the in-bounds pass, the Flyers fouled Jason Capel who sunk the first but missed the second of two freebies and Green rebounded. Down by three with 1:18 left on the clock, Hall missed a three but Finn was able to grab the rebound put it in and get fouled. With a chance to tie the game, his season free throw problems again surfaced and UNC was able to clear the carom.

Capel found a seam under the bucket and laid it in for a three-point lead with 46 seconds remaining on the clock. Morris brought the ball down the court and was fouled as he drove to the basket with 38 ticks remaining. He missed the first but made the second as UNC maintained a two-point lead. Purnell called timeout and set up the defense. With full-court pressure on, the Tar Heels were able to get the ball in the frontcourt and played some four-corner offense as the clock ran down. Just as Holland was about to foul to stop the clock, freshman Adam Boone dribbled the ball off his knee and the Flyers owned the ball with eight seconds remaining.

Purnell set up a play for Morris to either penetrate or hit Hall for a three. As he drove for the basket with just three seconds left, Morris found Stanley all alone in the corner. As Stanley put up the three, the buzzer sounded. The ball seemed to hang in the air forever before it slipped through the nets for what appeared to be a game winning shot. Flyer fans rushed the floor and celebrated. As order was restored, unbelievably, the referees were at the scorer’s table watching the replay. One had ruled that the shot was good, another had said that Stanley had not gotten it off in time. After several minutes and two commercials later, it was ruled that Stanley had indeed gotten the shot off and the Flyers were on their way to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in 17 years.

Round Three — Connecticut

Unbelievably, the season had come full circle. The team that Dayton had played to begin their season was now standing in their way for a trip to the Great Eight. Connecticut had come a long way since the Flyers had played them in Maui and it wasn’t just the plane trip back. Twenty-eight wins and four months later, the Huskies had matured and were a #2 seed. The Flyers were not going to catch them flatfooted this time.Almost unbelievably, the Flyers jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead as Morris had a hand in each score with either an assist or the bucket itself. The favored Huskies called a time out with the belief that it could only get better. They were wrong however as the Flyers had matured too. It was Finn’s turn to take over and take over he did. During the remainder of the first half he score 12 points as Dayton extended their lead to 12 at the half.

The next 20 minutes featured each team punching and counter punching as the lead fell to six with just over four minutes to play. In those final minutes, the Flyers did not hit one more field goal. They did however make 12 out of 14 free throws to hold off UConn for a 76-73 victory and the opportunity to play at least one more time. Morris led the Flyers with 16 points and eight assists. Finn helped with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Round Four — Illinois

It was Deja vu all over again for the Flyers as another early season opponent stood in their way. Illinois had proven that they were the class of the Big 10 by losing only two games during the conference season. This was a good team when the Flyers played them in November and an even better one now. Again Dayton was the underdog and could only hope that they could perform another miracle and make it to the Final Four.

Unfortunately for Dayton, this game was not a great deal different that the first game against the Illini. Dayton never seemed to get on track as the bright lights might have just been too hot. Tony Stanley was the only thing that kept UD from embarrassment. After 10 minutes it was Illinois 22, Stanley 10, and the rest of the Flyers 2. It didn’t get much better the rest of the game as the Flyers went down to an 82-73 defeat.If anyone would have told you that at the beginning of the season we would still be playing late into March and we would finish with a 26-9 record, you would have jumped for joy. Still, the loss was hard to take because they were never really in the game. The opportunity to show the world that we were among the best was diminished and UD and Purnell would have to wait for another year and another time to try to wear the crown.