This season, the UD Legends Series will be interactive as you the Flyer Faithful will have the chance to vote on the greatest games in the history of UD Arena. We'll highlight those 18 games here and in the Men's Basketball game programs throughout the season and publish the results for UD's final home game on March 4th. To vote for your favorite, send an email now to FlyerVoice@notes.udayton.edu
- Dayton 72, Bowling Green 70 (Dec. 6, 1969)
The first game we'll highlight is appropriately the first game in the history of UD Arena -- December 6, 1969 -- a Flyers' win over Bowling Green, 72-70.
BG's Jim Connally hit the Arena's first shot, followed by Dayton's first hoop, a jumper from Pat Murnen. The Flyers led 39-27 at half and pushed it to 43-27 before a 21-8 BG tear. From there, it was a dogfight. Senior (and future UD Hall of Famer) George Janky, who had 26 points and 15 rebounds, sank a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left to give UD a 72-68 lead.
The Falcons' Bob Quayle hit a shot at 0:17 and then stole the inbounds pass and missed a last-second shot which would have sent it into overtime. Afterward, Jim Gottschall said, "Those two free throws George made were really something. Let's face it ... he won the game."
- Dayton 97, No. 2 Notre Dame 82 (March 4, 1974)
This game goes down as having the largest and quite possibly the loudest crowd in UD Arena history - March 4, 1974 - with the Dayton Flyers' upset of No. 2 Notre Dame, 97-82 in front of 13,528.
If the Flyers were going to the NCAA Tournament, they would first have to go through Digger Phelps' second-ranked Fighting Irish who had a record of 24-1, with their only loss coming to No. 1 UCLA. Powered behind the crowd and UD future Hall of Famers Donald Smith and Mike Sylvester, the Flyers jumped out to a 40-25 lead, but the Irish cut this lead down to 44-38 at the half.
As the second half started, the Flyer Faithful could sense the game slipping away. ND's Dwight Clay converted a three-point play with about 11 minutes remaining, cutting the lead to 62-59. But UD answered with a 7-1 run and ran away with the victory behind Donald Smith's outstanding 32-point effort. With this win the Flyers assured themselves as a member of the 32-team NCAA field. Afterwards coach Donoher noted that the noise level was deafening throughout the game saying, "I've never heard one louder."
- Dayton 79, Providence 77 -- 5 OT (Jan. 28, 1982)
The third game we'll highlight is the longest and one of the most dramatic in Arena history -- a Flyers' win 79-77 over Providence in five overtimes on Jan. 28, 1982
It ranks as the most overtimes in each school's history, but how the game got into overtime wasn't the issue. Neither team had scored in the final 4:30 of regulation sending the game into the first overtime with the score knotted at 54-54.
Trailing 60-58 at the end of the first OT Mike Kanieski sank a 22-footer from the corner to tie the game once again and send it into another OT. Tied at 62-62 in the second OT, UD's Larry Schellenberg launched a 65-footer at the buzzer in hopes of a miracle but it hit the rim and bounced away forcing OT #3. In the third extra period, Kanieski tried to repeat his heroics. With two seconds left and UD down 65-64, he missed a shot, grabbed his own board, and was fouled at the buzzer. All alone at the free-throw line with no time on the clock, Kanieski made his first bucket tying the game at 65, but missed his second.
The Flyers down again by a score of 69-67 with four ticks remaining, Schellenberg fired the ball toward the basket where Kanieski tipped it. Out of nowhere came UD's George Morrison who caught it and laid it in as time expired. It was Morrison's lone bucket of the night and sent the game into the fifth and final OT. Said Morrison, "It was a miracle I didn't miss the shot, I miss it all the time in practice."
With 1:37 left in the fifth overtime, UD's Kevin Conrad made two free throws giving the Flyers a 78-73 lead, but Providence would not quit. With the score 79-77 and time running out, Providence guard Ricky Turner threw up a 30-footer which bounced off the rim at the buzzer, giving the Flyers the win.
- Dayton 67, Miami-Ohio 61 (Dec. 3, 2003)
The fourth game we'll highlight went down in history as Brian Gregory's first win at the UD Arena -- December 3, 2003 -- a Flyer victory over the Miami RedHawks, 67-61.
After starting the season a perfect 4-0 and returning from Hawai'i as the 2003 Maui Invitational Champions, the Flyers took on in-state rival Miami in what would be Brian Gregory's first official game at home in front of the Flyer Fairthful.
With the game tied at 16 with 8:40 remaining in the first half, a layup by Keith Waleskowski sparked a 25-8 run giving the Flyer's a 17 point lead at the break. The Flyers were on fire, shooting a tremendous 68 percent from the floor in the first half against Miami's 23 percent.
Dayton withstood a second half rally and held Miami to just three points in the final minute. Ramod Marshall (right) hit a perfect 4-of-4 from the line in the final 35 seconds to seal a 67-61 victory, giving Gregory his first ever win at the Arena. Waleskowski led four Flyers in double figures with 19 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
After becoming the first coach in the history of the EA Sports Maui Invitational to guide his team to the tournament championship in his first season as a head coach, BG led the Flyers to a 9-0 start -- the second-best start for a new UD coach in the rich history of Dayton Basketball.
- Dayton 111, Loyola 94 (Jan. 8, 1971)
The fifth game we'll highlight in the series is a Dayton victory over Loyola, a game in which UD's Tom Crosswhite scored 41 points at the Arena -- January 8th, 1971 -- Dayton 111, Loyola 94
Before the game began Crosswhite (right) told teammate Rex Gardecki, "Hey Rex, I'm going to score 40 tonight." Trying to live up to his word, Crosswhite had 27 points at the halfway mark, outscoring the entire Loyola team by one point. But the game was not over and Loyola center Tyrone Marioneaux was just beginning to heat up.
Marioneaux lit up the Flyers for 31 second half points, including a stretch of 12-straight buckets, finishing with 39 points on the night. Crosswhite however was not going to be shown up and certainly was not finished. He ended the game with 41 points, beating his prediction, and securing a 111-94 Dayton win. So whether you call him Nostradamus or Tom, one thing you can call him for sure is the only Flyer ever score 40 at the Arena.
- NBA Exhibitions at UD Arena (Milwaukee 103, Portland 96 in 1974, Chicago 114, Indiana 105 in 1995, Cleveland 103, Charlotte 77 in 2004)
#1: Milwaukee 103, Portland 96 (Oct. 4, 1974). In the only exhibition game to ever make the front cover of Sports Illustrated; this exhibition featured a rivalry between two of the games greatest players ever -- Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton -- before a packed house of 13,458. Both being former UCLA Bruins, Jabbar came out on top scoring 34 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
#2: Chicago 114, Indiana 105 (Oct. 15, 1995). In a year that may have seen the best team in the history of organized basketball, it all started at UD Arena. Though the Bulls didn't win the NBA title that year, this exhibition game created a huge demand for tickets in 1995 and yes, "His Airness" Michael Jordan was in uniform and in the game. Though he played limited time, Jordan pleased the Dayton crowd with a breakaway dunk early in the game that brought thousands to their feet. The Bulls would come out victorious in this one, and go on to win 72 of 82 regular season games.
#3: Cleveland 103, Charlotte 77 (Oct. 20, 2004). There was a buzz in the air as LeBron James was making his second trip to the Arena in an eight-month span. The NBA's No. 1 draft pick scored 16 points in helping the Cavs to rout of the expansion Bobcats in front of 7,589. Just eight months prior, James (right) visited the Arena as a "prepster" with his Akron St. Vincent-St. Marys team defeating Alter before a sold-out UD Arena.
- Kentucky 92, Indiana 90 -- NCAA (Mar. 22, 1975)
The seventh game in the Legends Series is the 1975 NCAA Midwest Regional Final, March 22, 1975 -- Kentucky 92, Indiana 90.
In 1975 the road to the Final four ran through UD Arena and traveling on it were two of the greatest programs in NCAA basketball history. In the driver's seat was Bobby Knight's Hoosiers who were 31-0 and on their way to what looked like a perfect national championship season, beating their opponents by an average of 23 points per game. Standing in their way was Kentucky, which IU dropped by 24 that December and was averaging 92 points per game.
In what was probably the most brutal game in NCAA tournament history, Wildcats Rick Robey and Mike Phillips fouled out trying to stop IU center Kent Benson. Benson was too much however, overpowering the two and scoring 33 points to go along with 23 rebounds. The lead changed 19 times before the Cat's took a nine-point lead with 5:32 remaining in the game. Indiana would battle back and cut the UK lead down to two on a tip in by Benson with 30 seconds left.
Trailing 90-88, the Hoosiers quickly fouled UK star Mike Grevey who was just six-for-19 on the game. Grevey thrived under pressure though and calmly swished both free-throws. IU's John Laskowski nailed a jumper with 14 seconds left and caught a break on a Wildcat missed free-throw but couldn't come up with a game-tying shot before time ran out. Wildcat guard Mike Flynn led the team with 22 points.
UK Coach Joe B. Hall said afterward, "Indiana is a great team. The game was a classic and I am proud to be apart of it."
- Dayton 72, DePaul 71 (Feb. 18, 1984)
One of the most famous games and memorable games in Arena history came in 1984, when Dayton upset No. 3 DePaul with "The Shot" at the buzzer.
It was the 250th game at UD Arena and DePaul was coming in ranked No. 3 at 19-1. With the game being nationally televised on NBC, you had that feeling something special was about to happen.
Finding itself down 11 at 65-64 with six minutes left in the game, UD started to turn it up. The Flyers went on a run scoring six straight unanswered points, closing the gap to 65-60 with 3:32 remaining. A long jumper by guard Sedric Toney with 1:09 to go would make it 69-66. With 37 seconds left, Larry Schellenberg tipped in a miss to put the Flyers within one. After two Dallas Comegy free throws, Schelly nailed two of his own to make it 71-70.
The next 11 second would go down in UD basketball history as one of the most thrilling game ending shots. After fouling Blue Demon Raymond McCoy on the inbound, it looked like UD would fall just short of a great comeback. But McCoy missed and Schellenberg came down with the rebound. In what seemed like slow motion, he dribbled up the court and found teammate and UD's all time leading scorer Roosevelt Chapman. Instead of taking the shot, Chapman incredibly dished it off to Ed Young who banked in the eight-footer over Marty Embry as time expired.
"It was a great pass from Chap. I had no idea how much time there was," said Young "I just shot and looked up to see one second on the clock." `The Shot,' would propel the Flyers into the NCAA tournament for the first time in 10 years, and UD would go on to make the tournament's Elite Eight.
- Dayton Women 83, Charleston 53 -- AIAW (Mar. 23, 1980)
Up next is a game from March 23, 1980 when the UD women won the AIAW National Championship by beating the College of Charleston, 83-53.
The Flyers victory over the Cougars to win the Assoication of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division II National Championship game capped the best season in UD women's basketball history.
The Flyers were 35-2 and hadn't lost a home game in three years. After being tied midway through the first half, UD's Ann Meyers sparked a 14-0 UD run that helped lead the Flyers to a landslide 30-point victory. Meyers scored 40 points to break her own school record for single-game points in a season and the Flyer women were national champions.
- Saint Joseph's 49, DePaul 48 -- NCAA (Mar. 14, 1981)
The next game in the legend was an NCAA Tournament game played between Saint Joseph's and DePaul, with the Hawks upsetting the Blue Demons, 49-48, on March 14, 1981.
Ray Meyer's Blue Demons entered the Tournament with a record of 27-1 -- led by college basketball's player of the year Mark Aguirre -- and seemed destined to reach the Final Four in Philadelphia. But if they were going to make it Philly, they would have to beat a Philly team that proved to be an overwhelming obstacle standing in their way.
With just 12 seconds remaining in the game, and the Blue Demons clinging to a 48-47 lead, St. Joe's fouled DePaul guard Skip Dillard. Dillard was the team's top free-throw shooter, shooting 85 percent. But as fate had it, Dillard missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and the Hawks Brian Warrick pulled down the rebound.
Warrick dribbled down the court, weaving through the Demon defense only to find freshman sub Lonnie McFarland alone in the right corner. McFarland left the ground for what appeared to be an attempted shot but found teammate John Smith wide open under the basket, who sank in the game-winner in what was probably the easiest shot of his career. In his final game for the Blue Demons, Aguirre had failed to score in double-digits for the first time in his career. Aguirre was distraught. He walked up the Arena ramp and into the parking lot, threw his jersey onto the pavement, and walked back to the Blue Demon's downtown hotel.
- Dayton 89, Ohio State 86 (Dec. 16, 1986)
In a game played March 14, 1981, the Flyers win a three-point thriller over Ohio State, 89-86, at the UD Arena.
Coach Gary Williams and the Buckeyes came into UD Arena before a wild sell-out crowd knowing this would be a close game. As Dan Christie went to the line for the Flyers in the final minutes, the Buckeyes' Dennis Hopson taunted him, putting his hands to his throat for the "choke" sign. Hopson, a Toledo native, told Christie, "Anybody from Oak Harbor starts to choke about now. It was Christie however had the last laugh, calmly sinking free throws down the stretch.
Hopson, OSU's all-time leading scorer, had 41 points to lead the Buckeyes but neither his hot hand nor his cold mouth could stop the Flyers who pulled out a 89-86 victory.
- Dayton 80, Villanova 78 (Dec. 22, 2002)
The next game we'll highlight in the series is a Flyers' win at the buzzer over Villanova, 80-78, on Dec. 22, 2002.
Brooks Hall gave the Flyer Faithful an early Christmas present as he nailed the game-winning shot at the buzzer to beat the Wildcats, 80-78, three days before Christmas.
In one of the most thrilling finishes in Arena history, the Flyers used that win to springboard a stretch of nine wins in their next 10 games (the lone loss coming at Duke).
UD would end the season 24-6, winning the A-10 Championship on Tom Blackburn Court.
- Notre Dame 112, Ohio 82 -- NCAA (Mar. 7, 1970)
our next game in the series is one that featured an NCAA Tournament record-setting performance -- a record which still stands today. Notre Dame's Austin Carr, who just one week earlier was held to only six points in a stunning defeat by the Dayton Flyers, 95-79, returned to UD Arena with a vengeance.
It was NCAA Tourney time, Notre Dame was playing Ohio University, and the madness of March was in the air. By halftime, Carr had hit 15 field goals and had 35 points. He would end up with 61 as the Irish downed the Bobcats, 112-82. The 61 would surpass Bill Bradley's previous NCAA Tourney scoring high of 58 and give him the new record -- it also continues to stand as a UD Arena scoring record. "I didn't even know what the record was until someone on the bench told me at a timeout," said Carr. "I just wanted to play, if the record was there, it was here."
Teammate Jack Meehan helped Carr by dishing off 17 assists, which was also a new UD Arena record. In seven career NCAA Tournament games, Carr averaged 41.3 points, which is another record. "The great thing about Carr," said former Kansas coach Ted Owens, "Is that he never takes a bad shot, he never forces because he passes off when he feels he is in a bad position."
- Dayton 81, Vermont 53 (Feb. 4, 1984)
Judging by the opponent and the score, one may wonder why UD's 81-53 pounding of Vermont on Feb. 4, 1984 would qualify as one of the greatest games in UD history. Well, two significant milestones were passed in that game as Head Coach Don Donoher (right) passed the legendary Tom Blackburn for all-time wins at UD, not to mention the Flyers won their 1,000th game in team history.
On that Saturday night, Donoher won game No. 353, to surpass Blackburn -- his coach, predecessor and mentor -- and become UD's winningest coach.
"I got this position for one reason, I was one of Tom Blackburn's boys and it is humbling to be even mentioned with him," Donoher said following the game. "It has been a great privilege to represent UD because there isn't any other place like it."
The win also marked the Flyers' 1,000th basketball victory, making UD just the 32nd school (out of the 270 Division I schools at that time) to join what the College Basketball Hall of Fame dubbed "Basketball's Most Exclusive Club."
- High School games at UD Arena (Dunbar vs. Roth, SVSM vs. Alter)
A pair of memorable high school games are the next in the UD Legends Series, which highlight the UD Arena's greatest games.
St. Vincent-St. Mary's vs. Alter (Feb. 16, 2003) In what was Lebron James' first of two games at the Arena (the other coming when the Cavaliers played an NBA exhibition), his SVSM Irish defeated the Knights, 70-43. Playing a game that was almost cancelled due to heavy snow, Lebron -- like Moses (not Malone) -- parted the snow while a sold-out crowd packed the Arena to get a first-hand look at the future No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, who scored 22.
In what proved to be more of a show than a real game, the Irish pounded the Knights, but their were a few highlights for Alter, who had a future UD student on the court. Now a junior chemical engineering major, Andy Stichweh earned instant fame by swatting a Lebron put back attempt, which brought crowd to its feet.
Chaminade vs. Roth (Feb. 15, 1970) It was the first high school game ever played at UD Arena and what was dubbed the "Ohio prep game of the year" brought a sellout crowd to watch local rivals Chaminade play Roth. With the game tied at 62 all, Chaminade's Dan Gerhard hit a 15-foot jumper with 4 seconds remaining to win it. Despite losing, Roth was led by prep All-America and future UD Hall of Famer Donald Smith with 24 points.
Smith would go on to become the highest scoring guard in UD history with 1,655 points, putting him 5th on the all time UD scoring list. He finished his high school career at Roth with 1,334 points in three varsity years.
- Dayton 79, Temple 72 -- A-10 Final (Mar. 15, 2003)
As the Atlantic 10 Championship made its first-ever appearance in Dayton, Ohio in 2003, the Flyers weren't about to let anyone take the title away from them. UD beat Temple, 79-72, in the championship game on March 15, 2003 to make our list of the Arena's greatest games.
After squeaking out a win over Saint Joseph's, 76-73, in the Semifinals, UD put itself in the A-10 Championship game for the first time in school history.
Behind the first career double-double from junior center Sean Finn and an MVP performance junior guard Ramod Marshall, the 21st-ranked Flyers beat John Chaney's Owls in front of 11,537 at the Arena.
Finn led UD with 20 points and 11 boards and Marshall tacked on 16 points with 10 assists to give the Flyers their first-ever A-10 title and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
- Dayton 82, Saint Louis 77 (Feb. 13, 1994)
The Flyers were suffering a school-record 11-game losing streak and searching for their first-ever Great Midwestern Conference win. With 17th-ranked Saint Louis at 19-1 coming to town, something mysterious was bound to happen at UD Arena. It did as UD upset SLU, 82-77, on February 13, 1994.
Things started looking ugly early as UD fell behind by 20 at 33-13. Just as it appeared to be another one of those nights, a miracle came through for the Flyers in the form of a freshman named Shawn Haughn. In what UD coach Jim O'Brien called "the greatest shooting performance in the history of the NCAA," Haughn scored 25 points in a 8:40 span to take the Flyers from 16 down to one up.
Hitting seven-of-seven from behind the arc in that stretch, Haughn seemed almost like a gift from heaven. The only non-believers in the house were the Billikens who down, but not out, came back and sent the game into overtime on a last-second shot. UD however scored the first four points of the overtime and would eventually shock the nationally-ranked Billikens 82-77, ending the Flyers' losing skid in dramatic fashion.
Before it was over, Haughn would set a school record for most points by a freshman with 30. And if that wasn't enough, he set a school, arena, conference and national record by hitting eight-of-eight from long range. Said Haughn after the game, "a couple of (the three-point shots) I thought were going to be air-balls. It was just one of those days when you're in a zone and everything is going in."
- Dayton 98, Xavier 89 -- MCC Final (Mar. 10, 1990)
The final game in the 2006 Budweiser Legends Series we'll highlight is none more fitting than against the Xavier Musketeers -- a classic battle between long-time rivals for the 1990 Midwestern Collegiate Conference championship and an NCAA automatic bid.
"Visiting" Xavier was 26-3, ranked in the top 25 and looking to stop Dayton's nine-game winning streak. The Flyers came out hot, shooting 63 percent from the field and hitting seven of 11 three-pointers in the first half to take a 53-46 lead. But as always in this rivalry, leads mean nothing.
The Musketeers bounced back, cutting the lead to 91-89, with 3:22 remaining. But UD senior guard Negele Knight (right) had seen enough. Knight continued his thrilling shooting display and nailed a 14-footer with 1:42 remaining, then went four-of-four from the free throw line in the game's final stretch to seal the win for the Flyers.
Knight, who had 32 points and a school-record 15 assists, celebrated on the court with the Flyer Faithful because he was going to the Big Dance for the first time in his career. In an array of emotion after the game, UD Coach Jim O' Brien said, "I'm speechless. If there's a better feeling in the world it can only be when your children are born and you are there."
