March 8, 2008
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All three Dayton graduating seniors scored in double figures in Saturday' 79-67 win over Saint Joseph's on Senior Day at UD Arena. Sophomore Marcus Johnson led UD with 17 points, but seniors Brian Roberts (15 points), Jimmy Binnie (12) and Andres Sandoval (12) provided a big lift. The Flyers concluded regular season play with a 20-9 record (8-8 Atlantic 10) in front of a sell-out crowd. Saint Joseph's dropped to 18-11 (9-7).
For the seventh time this season, 13,435 tickets were sold to sell out the Arena, and an estimated 7,000 "Flyer Faithful" fans braved the wintery weathers to see their squad. The 2007-08 campaign will go down as having the second highest average attendance per game in the history of UD Arena.
The Flyers dominated the game on the boards by outrebounding the Hawks 42-28 and holding a 14-7 advantage in second chance points. Binnie hauled in a game-high eight rebounds.
Dayton also outshot Saint Joseph's, going 26-of-53 for the contest including 9-of-18 from three-point range. Saint Joe's shot 23-of-56, but only 10-of-29 in the first half.
Ahmad Nivins led the Hawks in scoring with 23 points, 16 of which came in the second half.
Saint Joseph's jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Flyers fought back led by it seniors.
Trailing 11-9, Binnie's lay-up tied the game with 12:42 remaining in the first half. The bucket jumpstarted Dayton for the remainder of the first half. Binnie buried his first of three first half three-pointers on the next possession.
The Flyers scored 12 consecutive points and pieced together a 23-5 run over a span of 6:56 through the 4:13 mark.
Roberts nailed a pair of three-pointers, and four UD players chipped in with at least four points during the spurt.
Charles Little tallied UD's first slam dunk of the afternoon with a jam off a miss by Binnie. His flush ignited the crowd and forced Saint Joseph's to use its second timeout during the run.
The Hawks scored only five points in a stretch of 7:28 midway through the first half.
At the 2:37 mark, Roberts connected on his fourth three-pointer of the half, sparking a chant of "Bri-an Rob-erts" from the Red Scare student section. Roberts got a steal on SJU's next possession and finally missed a shot, but Marcus Johnson was there to clean the glass and finish with a lay-up, putting UD up 38-20 with 1:53 left to play.
The Flyers went into the locker room with a 41-24 lead. Roberts, who was 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the first half, was the game's top scorer at halftime with 12 points. Binnie chipped in with 11. Ahmad Nivins led Saint Joseph's with seven.
UD shot 16-of-34 from the floor in the first half including 7-of-13 from three-point range. The Hawks were just 10-of-29 shooting.
However, Saint Joseph's came out hot in the second half. An early 7-0 run pulled them to within 10 points, 41-31.
The teams traded baskets over the next 6:00, but a Johnson three-pointer from the baseline once again sparked the crowd and put Dayton up 50-38 with 12:21 remaining.
However, the Hawks pieced together a 5-0 spurt to pull within seven. Sandoval buried a three-pointer from the right wing to end the run. A fast-break lay-up by Sandoval 30 seconds later put UD ahead 55-43 with 9:29 left to play.
With 8:04 remaining and Dayton up 56-43, Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli was slapped with a technical foul. Roberts made 1-of-2 free throws.
Following a bucket by the Hawks, UD's Little and Roberts executed the pick-and-roll to perfection. Roberts hit Little as he cut through the lane and the Flyer big man threw down a two-handed slam over Saint Joseph's Rob Ferguson. Dayton grabbed a 59-45 lead at the 7:35 mark.
The Hawks focused on stopping Roberts down the stretch, but other players were able to score for UD. Johnson scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half.
From the 10:04 mark through the 1:40 mark, Dayton held Saint Joseph's to just one field goal. Solid foul shooting in the game's final two minutes iced the win for Dayton, as UD shot 12-of-14 from the free throw line down the stretch.
The Flyers will head to Atlantic City, NJ next week for the Atlantic 10 Tournament. With eight teams within one game of each other in the tightly-packed Atlantic 10 going into Saturday's play, pairings for the A-10 Tournament will not be released until later this evening.
