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Tuesday, March 30, 2010
North Carolina will be UD’s foe in final
NEW YORK — North Carolina advanced to the NIT championship game with a 68-67 overtime win over Rhode Island.
The Tar Heels (20-16) will play Dayton (24-12) for the title at 7 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.
UNC overcame a five-point deficit in the final 1:47 of regulation to force overtime. With the score tied at 59-59, Delroy James had two foul shots with 28 seconds left in regulation for Rhode Island (26-10) but missed them both.
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TweetClose game finally falls Flyers’ way
NEW YORK — I’ve been asked about Dayton’s woeful record in games decided by five points or fewer — the Flyers had played in nine of them since Jan. 1 and lost them all — and haven’t been able to come up with a good explanation.
Maybe it’s a head thing. Lose a few and self-doubt creeps in. Maybe it’s just getting beat by better teams each time, but that hardly seems likely given UD’s talent.
The most perplexing thing to me is that once or twice — at least — you’d figure the other team would self-destruct and hand you the victory. That never happened.
So, when the Flyers let an 11-point second-half lead dwindle to one with 35.8 seconds to go, the outcome seemed preordained. A loss appeared inevitable.
But finally, UD’s foe proved fallible. Mississippi missed a driving lay-up with 12 seconds to go that would have tied the game, and UD made foul shots the rest of the way to pull out a 68-63 win.
The Flyers’ record since Jan. 1 in games decided by five points or fewer: 1-9.
“I’ve been on the other end enough this year, where the guy makes that shot,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “Sometimes, you just miss it. He missed it. But I thought our defense was pretty good.”
London Warren did swoop in, but lefty guard Trevor Gaskins clanked the iron while going up with his left hand
“Gaskins is a dangerous player, very aggressive to score,” Gregory said. “He had a pretty good look on the initial dribble. London did a good job of arcing him out and forcing him to take a different angle.”
The Flyers (24-12) advanced to the NIT finals for the first time since winning the title in 1968. They had made nine tourney appearances since that championship year but lost each time before the semifinals.
“Being in the NIT (instead of the NCAA), we could have easily given up,” said star Chris Johnson, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds. “We showed lot of character, playing hard. We still have an opportunity to do something special here at Madison Square Garden. I think we can win a championship now.”
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TweetFlyers hang on at finish, make NIT finals
NEW YORK — Chris Johnson had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Dayton to a 68-63 win over Mississippi before 11,689 fans to advance to the NIT finals.
Marcus Johnson had 12 points, and Chris Wright added nine points and 12 rebounds for the Flyers (24-12), who will play the winner of the second game of the semifinal double-header between North Carolina and Rhode Island.
The Flyers led, 64-63, after a Ole Miss foul shot with 35.8 seconds to go, but London Warren made one of two foul-shot attempts with 23.7 seconds left, and after the Rebels’ Trevor Gaskins missed a drive, Chris Johnson banged in two more foul shots with 11.2 seconds left to seal the victory.
The Rebels (24-11) were led by Terrico White with 19 points.
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TweetWright lauds coach for standing ground with Iowa
NEW YORK — Dayton star Chris Wright wasn’t surprised coach Brian Gregory refused to enter behind-the-scenes discussions with Iowa about becoming the next coach there.
Gregory was the Hawkeyes’ top choice, but the seventh-year UD coach insisted he wouldn’t entertain any offers until after the season. Iowa decided not to wait and snagged Siena’s Fran McCaffery instead.
Gregory said he couldn’t face his team if he had already secretly given his allegiance to another school.
“That’s the type of person BG is — great character,” Wright said. “Some people might say something about his coaching, but there’s nothing you can say about him as a person. Some people might say he should have done this (game strategy) here, that’s just reality. That’s the pressure on a coach, and he’s cool with that. But if anybody ever said anything about him as a person, I would have a problem with that.”
Wright hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll test the NBA waters after the season, but the junior star wouldn’t want to play for another coach at UD next year if he does return.
“I’m happy to hear that (Gregory will be back),” Wright said. “He’s a loyal person. He’s loyal to his players and he’s loyal to the city. He loves it in Dayton. But if was to make a decision not to come back, I think I would understand. I don’t think he’s going to make a mistake in what he’s going to do. Because of the way he is, it’s got to be a good reason for him to leave.”
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TweetJohnson admits confidence dipped this year
NEW YORK — Marcus Johnson has only spent a few days in New York City, but he’s pretty sure of one thing after looking out his hotel window at night and seeing Times Square lit up like a Major League ball park.
“I would imagine the electricity bill would be pretty high,” he said.
Johnson was supposed to be one of the brightest lights on the Dayton basketball team his year, but his season got off to a bumpy start with a rib injury and was later slowed by wrist and foot ailments.
But he’s been playing some of his best basketball during the NIT, averaging 12.0 points after scoring about eight per game during the regular-season.
Asked if it was his injuries or his confidence that knocked him off track, he said candidly: “I would say both. I couldn’t get my confidence going. Things weren’t going for me, so my confidence dropped a little bit. But my mom and family kept hitting me with positive things, and I kept my focus and overcame it.”
Like the other Flyers, Johnson is happy the team was able to extend its season with an NIT run.
“It makes us feel good,” he said. “There are only eight teams still playing (in the NCAA and NIT), and only two finish with a W. Just to keep playing is great for our seniors. We’re not ready for our season to end.”
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