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Friday, March 13, 2009
Duquesne bounces UD from tourney
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Aaron Jackson and Melquan Bolding scored 24 points apiece to lead seventh-seeded Duquesne to a 77-66 upset of third-seeded Dayton in the Atlantic 10 semifinals Friday.
UD fell behind by six at the half and trailed by as many as 16 in the second half.
Mickey Perry had 15 points, Charles Little 13 and Chris Wright 12 for the Flyers (26-7), who expect to receive an NCAA at-large bid Sunday.
Duquesne (21-11) will face Temple (21-11) for the A-10 tourney crown and the league’s automatic NCAA bid at 6 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.
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Warren cramp no issue for tonight’s game
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — No need to worry about London Warren.
Although Dayton’s point guard was in agony after the quarterfinal win over Richmond late Thursday night because of a leg cramp, he was fine during warm-ups and said he was ready to go against Duquesne.
“I’m good,” he said.
The Flyers will likely need him at his best to beat the Dukes and advance to the A-10 finals against Temple.
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Xavier goes down in A-10 tourney
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — No rematch with Xavier.
If the Dayton Flyers get past their semifinal game with Duquesne tonight, they won’t get to stage a rubber match with the rival Musketeers. Temple took care of that.
Getting two huge 3-pointers in the final two minutes from Dionte Christmas, the Owls pulled out a 55-53 victory before a pro-Temple crowd at Boardwalk Hall here.
It was an intense affair between two good teams.The Owls give their NCAA tourney hopes a boost, while the Musketeers failed to get out of the A-10 semifinals for the third straight year while being the No. 1 seed.
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Three keys to victory for Flyers
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Richmond coach Chris Mooney was impressed with the Flyers, who pulled out a 69-64 victory in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals before 4,333 fans Thursday.
“They’re a team full of great athletes. They really look to offensive rebound and it becomes a big part of their game,” Mooney said.
“What they do with teams is they wear you down.”
Rebounding certainly saved the Flyers against the Spiders. They finished with a 47-29 edge on the boards with 15 offensive rebounds. And that certainly could be a factor against Duquesne in the semifinals tonight. The Dukes go 6-foot-7, 6-5 and 6-4 across the front line.
But rebounding alone won’t be enough to put the Flyers into the finals with a possible rematch against Xavier. Here are three keys to victory:
Slow Aaron Jackson. The first-team all-league pick is a tough-minded competitor who averages more than 18 points per game. The Flyers contained him in two earlier meetings and will need to pull that off again.
Make free throws. OK, I know it’s probably too much to expect the Flyers to knock down 80 percent or so, but that was an abominable effort in going 18-of-37 against Richmond, including 5-for-16 in the final five minutes.
Mickey Perry and Marcus Johnson were a combined 1-for-10 — and they’re good shooters. Making 70 percent probably will get the job done tonight. Is that too much to ask?
- Low-post scoring. Kurt Huelsman had six rebounds and a lot of hustle plays, but he was just 1-for-6 from the field. That 10-foot jump hook he took from the baseline missed so badly that it was still rising as it crossed over the basket. He’s capable of giving the Flyers a low-post presence and should have plenty of chances against the smaller Dukes.
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Public invited to watch Selection Show with Flyers
Dayton is confident enough in making the NCAA tournament that the school has set up an open-to-the-public event at the Frericks Center for Selection Sunday.
CBS-TV has been invited to bring its cameras — UD hasn’t heard yet whether that will happen — and the 65-team field will be announced on the network at 6 p.m this Sunday. The event begins at 5:30 p.m.
The Flyers improved to 26-6 with a 69-64 win over Richmond in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals Thursday. Despite a rough outing from the foul line (18-for-37), they had a monstrous 47-29 edge on the boards and shot 54.5 percent from the field in the second half to hang on.
“We defended well. We rebounded great today. We really moved the ball,” UD coach Brian Gregory said after the game.
They advanced to the A-10 semifinals for the first time since hosting the tourney in 2004 and will face Duquesne, which knocked off Rhode Island, 78-74.
“We have to do a good job guarding dribble penetration,” Gregory said. “This league has so many quality guards. Thank God we’ve got some, too, or we’d be in trouble.
“I thought our transition defense tonight, during the first 10 minutes, would not be good enough if we play that way tomorrow. Other than that, I thought it was really good.”
Point guard London Warren was more concerned about the turnovers. He had three in the first four minutes but just one more after that. He also had eight points, five assists and two steals.
“I think we have to take care of the ball better against Duquesne and we’ll be OK,” Warren said.
Sitting next to Warren in the post-game press conference, Marcus Johnson chimed in: “And also shoot free throws better … 18 of 37, we’re a better free-throw shooting team than that. We just have to concentrate better.”
The Flyers coughed it up 13 times, but only six of those turnovers came in the final 31 minutes. Fourth-year junior Mickey Perry proved to be a capable point guard while pulling relief duty with normal back-ups Stephen Thomas (ribs) and Rob Lowery (knee) out with injuries.
The Flyers expect to get some minutes against the Dukes from Thomas and reserve center Devin Searcy, who has missed three games with a sprained knee.
“It’s good we did not have to play Devin and Steve today,” Gregory said. “They could have played, If I called on them, they would have helped us. … At one point, I was just about to put in Stephen, but I said, ‘Let’s see how Mickey (Perry) does.’ And he did great.”
Expect to see the Flyers go with their usual 11-man rotation against the Dukes — and for them to play a lot more loose now that the NCAA tourney pressure is off their backs.
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Flyers shake off rough start for victory
Dayton got off to one of its worst starts of the season against Richmond, and Brian Gregory’s gang looked like it wanted to be anywhere but Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, playing in the league tournament.
The Flyers were down to one true point guard because of injuries to Stephen Thomas (rib) and Rob Lowery (knee), and starter London Warren had three turnovers before the first media timeout.
The Flyers had more turnovers (seven) than points (four) in the first nine minutes. They hit just two of their first nine shots while falling behind, 10-4.
“It took some time to get going,” Gregory said. “The time off we had and just sitting around (for two days in Atlantic City) … and these guys knew it was a big game. That was important for us to play well and advance. Maybe that had something to do with it.”
The Flyers had just six turnovers, though, in the final 31 minutes — thanks in part to a come-to-the-rescue performance by junior shooting guard Mickey Perry — and pulled out a 69-64 win to improve to 26-6 and probably take the suspense out of Selection Sunday.
Perry went just 1-for-7 from the field and 0-for-4 from the foul line, but he had three assists and no turnovers in relief duty at point guard.
“In our system, that’s a very difficult spot to play,” Gregory said. “We did simplify some things, but I thought Mickey did a very good job.
“The one thing he’s done is become a very good defender for us, and I don’t mind putting him on anyone. … Although he didn’t shoot well tonight, although he didn’t shoot well from the free throw line, he played 10 minutes at the point without a turnover. That’s a pretty good job when for the first time in four years of college, it’s ‘OK, Mickey, you’re the point guard.’ “
The Flyers could be close full strength for their semifinal game with Duquesne with the return of Stephen Thomas and Devin Searcy.
“Stephen and Devin could have played,” Gregory said. “They got the OK, but the doctors said every day you don’t need them is better for them.
“I expect them both to play tomorrow.”
Gregory was just relieved to come away with win after an 18-for-37 showing at the foul line.
“At the (pre-game) walk-through, I was a little concerned about our concentration, and somethimes that shows in free throws,” Gregory said. “Maybe playing here once now will help — because you’re not going to be able to get away with that.
“Thank God we can defend.”
