Ronald Roberts' Windmill v. Dayton

For those of you that have asked, here's Ronald Roberts' dunk from last night. Find your safe place.

St. Joseph's Recap: All that Glitters

The Flyers shot 34% from the floor and 26% from the three-point line tonight in Philly. This Dayton team won’t beat anyone with that type of shooting; they need to hit around 50% and 40% respectively to take down even the most mediocre of teams (which is exactly what St. Joe’s is) away from home. The Flyers finally hit a road bump, succumbing to St. Joseph’s, 77-63, in front a raucous and oftentimes greasy crowd.

The Flyers were very much in the game, up seven early in the second half, before a nearly six-minute scoring drought let St. Joe’s back into the game. A CJ Aiken three-pointer extended the SJU lead to nine and the Flyers never challenged the Hawks again. The lead ballooned to as much as 16 late in the game. The Flyers energy after the half was non-existent, resulting in being outscored by 19 points in the second frame.

Only Kevin Dillard and Chris Johnson (finally) showed a pulse against the Hawks. The duo led the way for the Flyers with 17 points apiece, CJ grabbing a team-high eight rebounds as well. Outside of Johnson and Dillard, no other Flyer showed the willingness to make something happen on either side of the floor. Although Ralph Hill’s 7 point/7 rebound effort was somewhat encouraging. I actually found myself calling out for Ralph near the end of the ballgame.

Considering the huge win over the weekend against the Overlords and their absolute torrid offensive rate as of late, the G.C. Cagers were due for a letdown sooner rather than later. UD came into tonight’s game averaging 81 points per game in conference play, best in the league, relying on what was surely unsustainable shooting to edge their opponents out. It all came crashing down against the Hawks, as UD was only able to connect on seven threes, attempting twenty-seven.  

The glaring mismatch occurred down low, where Dayton got absolutely manhandled by SJU’s big men. Ronald Roberts (27 pts), CJ Aiken (14 pts) and Halil Kanacevic (13 pts) combined for 54 of the Hawks’ 77 points (40 of those points coming in the paint). That’s total domination, kids. Martelli’s club found easy bucket after easy bucket down the stretch while Dayton was content to jack away from 22 feet. Aiken was effective defensively, blocking five shots and altering even more. The Flyer bigs were simply out-matched and out-worked.

Lastly, Paul Williams’s stat line:

I’m not sure if it’s the worst performance ever in a UD uniform, but it’s certainly in the discussion.

Tonight’s disappointment wasn't necessarily unexpected, yet it does serve as a wakeup call in some respects. Although Dayton is way ahead of schedule, there is still a lot of work to do. The Flyers return home for a very winnable clash with Rhode Island this Saturday.