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Flyers at a loss for answers

By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer Updated 1:13 AM Thursday, March 3, 2011

One after another, they all denied that there’s a chemistry problem with this basketball team, that there’s a disconnect between the players and the head coach, that this team is just going through the motions sometimes.

The Dayton Flyers were embarrassed by Saint Louis 69-51 Wednesday night at UD Arena. What was supposed to be a night of warm reflection and celebration — Senior Night — ended up being the Flyers’ worst home loss in 14 years.

The team was booed as it left the floor at halftime. There was a mass exodus of fans with close to nine minutes left in the game. In fact, the only time people really got excited in the second half was during a timeout with 7:35 left. That’s when cheerleaders tossed T-shirts into the crowd.

Maybe it’s just because for about the first time all night the fans felt they were getting a return on their dollar.

They certainly weren’t getting anything on the court. Afterward coach Brian Gregory admitted as much, saying there wasn’t one phase of the game that his team did well this night.

He admitted it wasn’t just his players, but himself as well, saying he didn’t feel he did the job he needed to prep his team for the Billikens, who the Flyers beat by 10 two months ago.

Gregory was asked if he felt he had lost this team.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “We’re 48 hours away from two minutes to go — 1:48 to go — and having a tie game with Xavier. You’d be the first guy to say that. It’s not like I’ve heard that before. This is the first I’ve heard that.”

Senior Chris Wright — who finished with 21 points and seven rebounds — was of a similar mind-set: “Nothing’s happened to this team. I got the heart of a lion. I’m not going to let something like that keep us down. I wasn’t raised like that.”

Fellow senior Devin Searcy, who finished with two points, shook his head when asked about a disconnect: “Naah, nobody needs to worry about that.”

People are worrying though. A team that was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 is now 7-8 in the league, 19-11 overall, and has to be concerned whether it will start the league tournament at home next week. Then again, these days there’s not that big of a difference between its fate on the road and at UD Arena.

As for what happened Wednesday night, nobody seemed quite sure.

“We just didn’t come to play,” said guard Paul Williams, who had two points.

Searcy tried putting it into some kind of perspective: “Of course I’m upset we didn’t get the win ... But life is much bigger than that, really. This is not the end all, be all. I try to hold my faith and relationships I’ve made here at UD. That’s what drives me. I don’t sweat the small stuff. I’m thankful for what I do have, not for what I don’t. I’ve had a good career here. I’m thankful for the people who supported me. It’s time for me to get on about it.”

First, though, comes the regular-season finale at George Washington, then the conference tournament and maybe a postseason bid.

While they might pretend otherwise, it does weigh on some people’s minds.

“We got to keep fighting,” Wright said. “But every team doesn’t have a perfect storybook ending.”

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