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Flyers stage a colossal comeback against Towson, avoid upset

Down by 18 with 9:30  to go, UD hits clutch shots and shuts down visiting Towson.

University of Dayton junior Chris Wright gets a hand in the throat from Towson sophomore Troy Franklin as the two and Towson senior Calvin Lee battle for the ball Saturday, Nov. 28, at UD Arena. Wright had 20 points and nine rebounds in the Flyers' 74-69 victory. Contributed photo by Erik Schelkun

Erik Schelkun/Contributing photographer University of Dayton junior Chris Wright gets a hand in the throat from Towson sophomore Troy Franklin as the two and Towson senior Calvin Lee battle for the ball Saturday, Nov. 28, at UD Arena. Wright had 20 points and nine rebounds in the Flyers' 74-69 victory. Contributed photo by Erik Schelkun

ENLARGE PHOTO

By Doug Harris, Staff Writer Updated 9:31 PM Saturday, November 28, 2009

DAYTON — Chris Wright was overjoyed with the late-game heroics, but the junior forward also had a word of caution for his University of Dayton teammates.

“The guys I play with, they’re a bunch of guys with a lot of heart,” he said. “But you can’t turn it off and on. You can’t flip a switch. Sometimes when you flip the switch, the game could be over.”

The Flyers nearly waited too long against lightly regarded Towson (Md.) before coming to life. Down 18 points with 9:30 to go, they tossed in clutch 3-pointers, played pit-bull defense and rode a tsunami of a momentum surge to a 74-69 victory before 12,730 fans Saturday.

They outscored the Tigers 12-0 over the final 4:05 to avoid an upset that could have had long-range consequences. Wright had 20 points and nine rebounds, while Mickey Perry, Chris Johnson and Paul Williams made crucial 3-pointers down the stretch.

“Some guys would freeze up in that situation, but those guys didn’t,” Wright said. “That’s why I love them.”

Josh Thornton (22 points) made his first six 3-point attempts, and the Tigers (1-3) buried 12 of their opening 17 bombs on the way to a 64-46 edge.

But the Flyers (3-2) finally solved a troublesome 2-3 zone and took their first lead since midway through the second half on a trey by Johnson with 1:22 to go, making it 70-69. And after a defensive stop, the Flyers got a 3-pointer by Williams for a four-point lead with 31.1 seconds left on their way to a school-record 22nd straight home win.

UD personnel believe the comeback is the largest ever inside 10 minutes in program history.

“You can question if we’re defending and rebounding the way we’re capable of doing those two aspects of the game,” UD coach Brian Gregory said, “but you can’t question the character and heart of these guys.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Next game

Who: Dayton (3-2) at Miami (2-4)

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Radio: WHIO-AM (1290), WHIO-FM (95.7)

TV: WHIO-TV (Channel 7)

Online: Get the latest on the Flyers at Dayton DailyNews.com/ud

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