This season the University of Dayton Arena added Twisted Sister’s jam “We’re Not Gonna Take It” to its game day repertoire. Thursday the Flyers lived out that proclamation.
Fittingly, Dayton capped what could be the final National Invitation Tournament with its third NIT title and first since 1968. The championship came courtesy of a 79-68 win over North Carolina at Madison Square Garden. Yes, that MSG. And yes, that UNC.
Senior Marcus Johnson led the way with a team-high 20 points, while sophomore guard Paul Williams poured in 16, including four timely 3-pointers. Junior Chris Wright and sophomore Chris Johnson, the tourney MVP, added 14 a piece.
Just three weeks ago, Dayton’s season looked like a disappointment. Now it will be remembered forever.
After dropping six of its last nine regular season games and failing to close out close games on the road all year, UD exited the A-10 Tournament in the quarterfinals and limped into the NIT. The Flyers sprinted to the finish.
Thanks to road wins at Cincinnati and Illinois in the postseason and victories over Mississippi and North Carolina in New York, they Flyers can now say they beat teams from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and SEC this season. They also beat Georgia Tech, another ACC member. Their biggest defeat? An 83-75 setback to Kansas State. The Wildcats made the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. UD also lost 71-65 to Villanova and 68-66 at New Mexico. They also beat Old Dominion, which like Villanova and New Mexico, was an NCAA Tournament team.
No doubt memories like the bad losses at St. Joe’s and Duquesne will leave fans shaking their heads and wondering “what if?” But this UD team accomplished a ton. An NCAA bid is the only thing missing. Is an NIT Championship a good consolation prize. Absolutely.
Here’s what else UD did this season:
UD won its 500th game at UD Arena: On Dec. 29 the Flyers beat Boston 74-60 to reach the milestone. The basketball Mecca opened in 1969.
UD wins a record 30 straight at home: Only a last second 3 from Rhode Island’s Marquis Jones kept it from hitting 31. The Ram senior silenced the crowd and closed a chapter on the UD record books when his late gift propelled URI past UD 65-64 on January 26.
UD crushes Xavier by 25: The Flyers domination of the Musketeers on February 6 was their largest margin of victory over their hated rivals in 32 years.
Kurt Huelsman sets the consecutive starts streak at 137: I know this is a team sport, but Huelsman’s accomplishment is worthy of praise on all levels. No Flyer has started more game’s than the center from St. Henry. And you thought that was a football town.
Did we mention UD didn’t lose a game by more than eight points and beat teams from the ACC (2), Big East, Big Ten and SEC?
Twisted is right.
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