PHILADELPHIA <\/p>\n
About 200 fans of the Dayton Flyers visited Tom Gola Arena on Thursday night. They were brave souls. Their team had lost four straight games at La Salle.<\/p>\n
PHOTOS:Flyers vs. Explorers<\/p>\n
Good Dayton teams had lost to average or poor La Salle teams. For whatever reason, La Salle had Daytons number in Philadelphia at least until the first game of 2020.<\/p>\n
La Salle (9-4) entered the game with three losses to Penn, Temple and Villanova by a combined 32 points. Dayton beat the Explorers84-58. It was La Salles worst loss since a 77-39 defeat at UD on Senior Night last March.<\/p>\n
All credit goes to Dayton, said second-year La Salle coach Ashley Howard. Theyre a really good team. Great chemistry. They play with great pace. Until you see it live, you dont really get a feel for it. Its hard to simulate. We had some scoring issues early in the game that really just affected our fight. I just felt like midway through the first half, we lost our fight once we couldnt generate easy offense, and thats all Dayton.<\/p>\n
La Salle trailed 14-12 when Dayton began a 6-0 run. After one basket by La Salle, Dayton then ran off 18 straight points.<\/p>\n
They do a great job, Howard said. They communicate at a high level. They have great interchangeable people. Its not just Obi Toppin. Its (Ryan) Mikesell, Trey Landers, (Jalen) Crutcher, Ibi Watson. Those guys are big-time players, and theyre confident and theyve got a good thing going right now. Theyre a great representation of the Atlantic 10.<\/p>\n
BIG RUN:Examining Daytons 18-0 spurt in first half<\/p>\n
Howard called the game a reality check for his team. La Salle has two top-150 victories, judging by the Ken Pomeroy ratings: 75-64 against No. 141 Murray State and 72-70 against No. 112 Wright State.<\/p>\n
We played some opponents that were not at the same level as the Atlantic 10, Howard said. We won those games. I was afraid that we may get a little overconfident and a false sense of where we are. Today put us right back in check to understand we won these games and now we have a lot of work to keep getting better, and Dayton is really good. They might be one of the best teams in the country. They played like it tonight.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead: Dayton ended a four-game losing streak at Tom Gola Arena and will try to end a nine-game skid at Saint Josephs on Sunday. The Flyers play the Hawks at Hagan Arena at 1 p.m. Saint Josephs (3-10) lost 84-52 at Richmond in its A-10 opener Thursday.<\/p>\n
DECADE IN REVIEW:Best and worst of UD basketball<\/p>\n
Philly stay: Dayton practiced at Tom Gola Arena after arriving in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, they held a morning shootaround across the river in New Jersey on the campus of Rutgers-Camden.<\/p>\n
Rising Flyers: Dayton moved from No. 9 to No. 8 in the Pomeroy ratings. Its the highest the program has ever been ranked since the ratings were first published in 2002.<\/p>\n
Around the A-10: Duquesne (11-2) beat Saint Louis 73-59 in Pittsburgh on Thursday. Marcus Weathers scored 26 points for the Dukes. The Billikens (11-3) faded after cutting the deficit to four points with under six minutes to play.<\/p>\n
Preseason favorite Virginia Commonwealth opened conference play with a 64-46 victory at home against Fordham (6-7). MikeL Simms scored 14.<\/p>\n
Thank you for reading the Dayton Daily News and for supporting local journalism. Subscribers: log in for access to your daily ePaper and premium newsletters.<\/p>\n
Thank you for supporting in-depth local journalism with your subscription to the Dayton Daily News. Get more news when you want it with email newsletters just for subscribers. Sign up here.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read more from the original source: PHILADELPHIA About 200 fans of the Dayton Flyers visited Tom Gola Arena on Thursday night. They were brave souls. Continue reading
\nLa Salle coach: Dayton might be one of the best teams in the country - Dayton Daily News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"