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DAYTON — Dayton coach Brian Gregory had to administer some tough love to two of his players, holding them out of the starting lineup. But the disciplinary action was almost as tough on him as it was on the duo he benched.

"I'm not going to lie, I was concerned about the start of the game without those two guys," Gregory said. "But it was the right thing to do."

Junior Brian Roberts and freshman Marcus Johnson were forced to begin the Flyers' 69-53 win over Holy Cross on the bench after being late to a shoot-around Saturday.

Roberts went into the game leading the Flyers in scoring (22.0), assists (3.8) and minutes played (37.3). Johnson was second in scoring (9.5) and rebounding (5.5).

Junior Jimmy Binnie and freshman London Warren took their places. Roberts made his first appearance at 16:13 of the first half, Johnson at 14:05.

Roberts said the two were "barely late" and were hung up a bit in traffic.

"I was definitely hustling to get here," he said.

Asked if he understood Gregory's decision, Roberts said: "I was fine with it."

The Toledo native played just 20 minutes because of foul trouble, finishing with eight points. Johnson had 10 points and a team-high six rebounds in 22 minutes.

Zone tough

The Flyers struggled against Holy Cross' 1-3-1 zone in the first half — making 12,149 fans squirm a bit — before carving it up in the second 20 minutes.

"We kept battling and battling," Gregory said. "We had a little rut there at the end of the first half. We had to go over some things. And our guys are growing up. They responded."

The Flyers penetrated the gaps and found Norman Plummer (19 points) and Charles Little (16) inside, turning their offense into "a lay-up line," in Plummer's words.

Willard liked environment

Holy Cross fell to 6-2, its only previous loss coming at Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. But veteran coach Ralph Willard thought Dayton's home-court advantage was similar to what that national power enjoys.

"Here, the people are a lot closer than they are at Syracuse," Willard said. "Syracuse may have 19,000 there, but they're not right on top of you like they are here.

"It was a great atmosphere, a great building, and the people support the program very, very well."

But while he was impressed with the Flyers (6-1), he also thought they looked a bit vulnerable.

"Dayton is a very good, physical basketball team," Willard said. "I think the one Achilles that they'll have to find a way to hide is their shooting. ... They've got to shoot the ball better from the perimeter because a bigger, more athletic team is going to pack it in on them and make them shoot the basketball."

Flyer notes

• UD finished with a 29-22 rebounding advantage after getting outboarded in the first half, 13-7.

• Gregory coached his 100th game at UD and has a 62-38 record. Don Donoher went 75-25 in his first 100, Tom Blackburn 61-39.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125

or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com