Jan. 9, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes

DAYTON, OH -- - The University of Dayton men's basketball team used the first career double-double from Monty Scott en route to a 62-51 win over Cornell University Sunday night at the UD Arena. Freshman Norman Plummer scored a team-best 12 points off the bench as the Flyers (7-5) won their final non-conference game of the season.

Freshman Trent Meacham scored 11 points and sophomore Monty Scott added 10 points along with a career-high 12 rebounds in a game in which UD never trailed. The Flyers led by as many as 23 points in the second half in its first-ever meeting with the Big Red (5-8).

Setting the tone from the opening tap, UD used its size inside to pull down five offensive rebounds in the first six minutes of the game while opening a 10-1 lead. In the game's first possession was tell-tale as Chris Alvarez missed a jumper, tracked down his own rebound and dished to Brian Roberts who knocked down a jumper.

For the game, the Flyers owned a commanding 44-28 advantage on the glass, including a 17-5 edge in offensive rebounding while outscoring the Big Red 15-1 in second-chance points.

A layup by Nick Stafford and a pair of free throws from Meacham gave UD a 20-12 lead with 7:38 remaining in the first half. But Cornell had built some momentum heading to halftime, cutting that lead to four in the final minute twice on a jumper from Andrew Naeve and a layup from Cody Toppert.

But Meacham slammed the door on the Big Red run and nailed a running three-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer as Dayton took a 25-18 lead into the locker room.

Warren Williams nailed another three to start the half, a Scott dunk on a fast break and a trey from Roberts extended the Flyers' lead to 33-22 at 17:36 and had the Arena crowd of 12,587 on its feet.

Scott's putback at 11:06 put UD up 51-28 - its largest lead of the game - and the Flyers were able to maintain a 20-point advantage over the next seven minutes and seal the victory.

The Flyers' balanced attack saw 10 different players score points and 11 different players grab at least a rebound. Williams tallied eight points, Brian Roberts had seven points along with three boards and Jimmy Binnie had six points and five rebounds. Nick Stafford capped his all-around day with two points, four boards, an assist, a block and a steal.

Coach Brian Gregory, who was able to play all 17 players on the roster for the first time this season, held senior Mark Jones out of the starting lineup and to just limited minutes as he battles the flu.

The Flyers return to action Wednesday night, hosting the University of Richmond in an Atlantic 10 game at the UD Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.

Post-Game Quotes

Dayton Head Coach Brian Gregory

"It was great to finally get this game off. A big thank you has to go to [UD Associate Director of Athletics) Tim O'Connell and his staff here at the Arena. They've been working non-stop for five straight days so we could get this game in. I want to thank all our fans who changed their plans and came out tonight. Our fans were in the game early and that really helped us. They were great tonight."

"Those first 10 minutes of the second half, we were sharp on offense and good on defense. We were playing the kind of defense that I want to see."

"Nick Stafford is learning how to play the game at this level. But I'm very pleased with his development. He's getting better every day."

"People asked what kind of effect moving the game back a day would have, and I said it's probably not going to affect us tonight. But it may show up this week, with games on Wednesday and Saturday. Today was supposed to be an off day for us, where the kids could get their legs back under them. So, we'll have more of mental day tomorrow than a physical preparation day. And you want has many prep days as possible when you're playing Jerry Wainwright and Richmond."

Cornell Head Coach Steve Donahue

"The game was obviously decided in the second half. I think we had too many empty possessions early in the second half and the three-pointer at the buzzer really gave Dayton some momentum offensively."

"I thought Dayton played extremely hard tonight and really hurt us on the boards, particularly on the offensive glass. Our kids competed well but it's tough to win a game on the road in an environment like this."

Dayton freshman guard Trent Meacham "We wanted to get out on the court and play again after Duquesne."

Dayton junior forward Marques Bennett "It felt good to bounce back from that loss against Duquesne. It was good to have the game scheduled so close together."

Dayton sophomore forward Monty Scott "We were ready to play tonight, but we come to play any game."

"We needed to get that loss out of our system."

"We're looking forward to playing Richmond. We're going to get focused and be ready to play."