Jan. 17, 2009
Box Score | Quotes
PITTSBURGH - The University of Dayton Flyers played a strong defensive contest, quieted a Duquesne crowd at A.J. Palumbo Center with thunderous dunks, and used an explosive second half in a 78-69 victory against the Dukes Saturday in a key Atlantic 10 matchup.
Dayton improved to 16-2 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic 10 with the huge road win, while snapping the Dukes' seven-game winning streak during which Duquesne averaged 86 points per contest. UD dealt the Dukes their first conference loss of the season as Duquesne falls to 12-5 overall, 3-1 in the A-10.
The Flyers used a balanced attack as five Dayton players scored in double figures. Rob Lowery paced the offense with a team-high 16 points. Chris Wright dropped a 15 spot. Freshmen Luke Fabrizius and Chris Johnson also came up big.
Fabrizius scored a career-high 11 points, drilling 3-of-5 from downtown, while Johnson accounted for 10 points and nine rebounds. Marcus Johnson scored nine of his 11 points in the second half including the basket on a steal and dunk that gave UD its biggest lead of the night, 70-58, with 3:30 to play. Marcus Johnson tied a career-best with four steals which he also had against North Carolina as a freshman.
Dayton continues to be solid on the boards, out-rebounding the Dukes 36-30, and improving to 15-0 on the season when it out-rebounds opponents. The Flyers proved how valuable their depth is as well, the UD bench outscoring Duquesne's 43-8.
UD tallied seven dunks in the A-10 bout, bringing its total to 61 this season in just 18 games, tying a Dayton single-season record set by the 2003-04 squad that put up those same numbers in 33 contests.
The Flyers had a series of dunks in the final minutes of the game that dealt a huge blow to the Duquesne defense. It started with a Chris Johnson follow on a missed layup when he slammed home a jam to put Dayton up 66-55 with 4:31 to play. That was followed shortly after by a two-handed dunk by Wright at the 3:02 mark and then Charles Little got in on the action with a flush dunk with 2:02 left in the game.
Wright set the tone of the Atlantic 10 matchup with a left-handed dunk putback after a missed shot to start the contest and the Flyers led 7-4 after three minutes of action.
The Flyers, however, were hampered by six turnovers in first four minutes of game and the Dukes went up 11-7 after a 9-0 run. Dayton finished wih 24 turnovers and Duquesne took advantage, scoring 26 points off of UD miscues.
Midway through the half, Marcus Johnson fired up the Flyers with a tomahawk dunk to put Dayton up 18-17 with 10:06 to play until halftime.
The Dukes' Bill Clark picked up his third foul at 8:25 mark of first half and had to sit down with his hot hand and eight points. Aaron Jackson picked up the slack and scored 16 of Duquesne's 38 first-half points. Jackson only scored two points in the second half, his field goal coming with 4:24 to play in the game. Clark finished with a game-high 19 points.
This may sound familiar. Rob Lowery made a layup with five seconds to play to give Dayton a 39-38 lead going into halftime. The junior point guard scored the game-winning bucket in the final seconds against Fordham.
Dayton plays another A-10 road game this Thursday, Jan. 22 at George Washington. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. ET.
