Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > January > 14
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Flyers take step backward
Dayton seemingly had the perfect foe in Fordham to rebuild its confidence after that thrashing on the road at UMass. The Flyers know — shoot, everybody knows — the other 14 Atlantic 10 opponents left on the schedule will provide far greater tests than what the youthful Rams could muster.
But instead of a psyche-soothing victory, the Flyers are left to ponder whether that 14-1 non-league record was a deceiving feat built against mostly weak competition or whether they have the stuff to make a run at the postseason.
The Flyers pulled out a 72-71 victory, but that was a rattled team on the floor, playing, if I may channel Dr. Phil for a moment, with a fear of failure instead of a swagger that should be there from beating Marquette, Auburn and others.
These guys went into the game with an RPI of 43 — meaning they’re ranked ahead of exactly 300 Division-I teams in the computer ratings — but unless they solve their offensive woes, a slide down the standings is inevitable.
The Flyers are out of sync in half-court sets, and they’re not getting enough transition points to make up for it. There’s no easy solution, either. Opponents have figured out how to keep UD from running, and there aren’t enough players on the roster capable of creating shots for themselves.
And what’s happened to that celebrated defense? Only one of the Flyers’ first 12 opponents shot 40 percent from the field (Creighton), but Fordham connected at a 43.9 clip while becoming the fourth team in five games to top 40 percent.
“We’ve played two games now in this league, and in both games we haven’t defended and have not rebounded well, so we have a lot of work to do if we want to continue to improve,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “Tomorrow morning, you feel a lot better that we won this game, but it’s hard to find a lot of things we did well.”
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Flyers hang on for one-point win
Rob Lowery scored 13 points, including a driving lay-up with 5.4 seconds left to give Dayton a 72-71 win over visiting Fordham on Wednesday.
The Flyers (15-2, 1-1) had a 70-66 lead with 19 seconds left, but the Rams (2-13, 0-3) hit a 3-pointer, forced a turnover and converted two free throws with 10.1 seconds to go.
Fordham turned the ball over after Lowery’s bucket, allowing the Flyers to hold on.
