Feb. 6, 2008

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It took Dayton senior Brian Roberts more than 35 minutes to score, but his nine points came at the most crucial of times in the Flyers' 69-64 comeback victory on Wednesday against Atlantic 10 foe Charlotte at UD Arena.

The 49ers (13-8, 4-3) held a 59-51 advantage with 4:58 remaining, before allowing Roberts to heat up. The conference's fifth- leading scorer (19.1 PPG) sank a three-point shot that sparked a 10-0 Dayton run, giving the Flyers (16-5, 4-4) their first lead since 4:16 in the first half.

Roberts scored nine of UD's final 18 points during the Flyers' 18-5 run to end the game.

Junior Charles Little paced the Flyers with 16 points, tying Charlotte's Lamont Mack for a game-high. Dayton improved its home record to 12-1 this season with the victory.

The Flyers shot 53-percent for the game while holding the 49ers to just 41.5-percent. Charlotte senior Leemire Goldwire, who averages nearly 20 points per game, converted only 2-of-16 attempts from the floor.

Charlotte opened the first 9:00 shooting 7-of-12 from the field and Dayton fell into an early 15-4 hole.

UD responded by cutting back on early turnovers and making up for its 2-of-7 start from the floor. An 18-6 Dayton spurt led by junior Charles Little and senior Andres Sandoval brought the Flyers back, and London Warren's acrobatic reverse lay-up at the 4:31 mark gave UD a 22-21 lead.

However, the 49ers regained the lead heading into the break, 33-28. Sophomore Kurt Huelsman was absent for much of the first half after picking two fouls within the game's opening three minutes. Roberts, was held scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting in the first half.

Sandoval and Charlotte's Charlie Coley led all scorers at the break with eight points.

Dayton tried to cut into Charlotte's lead early in the second half, but the Flyers could not capitalize on a blown lay-up by Coley. UD missed their next shot attempt on the other end, which allowed Goldwire to bury a three-pointer and give the 49ers a 38-32 lead with 16:19 remaining.

The Flyers then allowed a 6-0 run with Roberts on the bench. Dayton's top scorer reentered with 13:00 minutes left, and Dayton responded with a pair of quick buckets to pull to within 44-39.

The teams exchanged baskets until Charlotte was able to use clutch foul shooting to open up a 55-44 advantage. For the game, the 49ers shot 15-of-20 from the free line.

Binnie kept UD in the game with a three-pointer to cut the lead back to single digits with just under 8:00 to play.

Huelsman fouled out at the 5:47 mark, but Roberts hit his first basket with 4:58 remaining to give the Flyers momentum and bring the UD crowd of 12,110 to its feet.

However, Little was called for his fifth foul with just over 4:00 remaining, but the Flyers overcame the loss of two key players with a 10-0 run over the next 1:34 to take their first lead of the half at 61-59.

Charlotte scored on its next possession, but Roberts converted on a key jump shot as the shot clock wound down. A Warren lay-up with :35 gave UD a four point advantage, which was quickly trimmed to one, 65-64, by a Lamont Mack three-pointer.

Warren was fouled on the inbounds pass and sent to the foul line, where he sank two shots to give Dayton a 67-64 lead.

On the other end, Warren blocked Goldwire's game-tying three-point attempt from the corner with less than 10 seconds remaining. Dayton recovered the loose ball and Roberts buried two free throws to ice the game.

The Flyers are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 9 in Washington, DC against the George Washington Colonials at 7 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on CSTV Regional (WHIO-TV in Dayton) or heard live on WHIO Radio.