Dec. 7, 2004

Box Score

DAYTON, OH - The experience of its senior and the talent of its freshmen led the University of Dayton to a 62-57 win over visiting Wyoming in front of 12,135 fans on Tuesday night at UD Arena.

The win snaps the Flyers' two-game losing streak, lifting their record to 2-3 on the year while the Cowboys fell to 4-2 overall.

Senior Mark Jones (Taftville, CT), playing in his 100th game as a Flyer, scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds while leading the UD offense with five assists on the night. He also hit the two biggest free throws of the night when he went to the line with UD up 58-57 with just 33 seconds left in the game.

The biggest benefactors of Jones' leadership were the Flyer freshmen. The UD rookies accounted for 31 of Dayton's 62 points on the night.

Freshman guard Brian Roberts (Toledo, OH) finished with a career and team-high 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting to lead the Flyer attack. Classmate Nick Stafford (Springfield, MA) added a career-high seven points (with a career-high seven rebounds). They were followed by six from Trent Meacham (Champaign, IL), four by Chris Alvarez (Miami, FL) and three by Norman Plummer (Fairfield, OH).

Seven Flyers scored five or more points, and the Dayton bench outscored their Wyoming counterparts 29-11.

Wyoming led 4-2 three minutes into the game, but Dayton grabbed the lead with an 11-0 run over the next five minutes, with points from five different players. The Flyers played a good portion of that run with five freshmen on the floor, and rookies scored eight of the points in the run.

UD led 27-17 at halftime, and had out-rebounded the taller Cowboys (starting front line: 6-9, 6-10, 7-1) 18-14.

Dayton scored the first bucket of the second half, but Wyoming came back with a 7-0 run to start the climb and a 8-0 run to finish it and take a 39-35 lead with 11:05 left in the game. Plummer scored in lane for UD to make it 39-37, and then Warren Williams nailed a three to put the Flyers back in front 40-39.

After Cowboy center Alex Dunn made a pair of free throws, Jones nailed a clutch three with 8:48 remaining, to put the Flyers ahead 45-43, and UD never trailed again.

Dayton led by as much as seven down the stretch, and Wyoming could only get as close as one score. The Flyers closed their scoring by making 10 of 12 free throws over the last four minutes of the game.

This was UD's third game in seven days against teams with a combined 10-2 record at the time each game was played. Dayton lost at DePaul (3-1) last Wednesday and fell at home to then-#24 UC (3-0) before holding off Wyoming (4-1).

The Flyers are back in action on Saturday, December 11 when they face Texas Southern at UD Arena. Game time is 8:00 p.m. EST.

POST GAME QUOTES

DAYTON HEAD COACH Brian Gregory "With three games in seven days, we really challenged our team tonight. I told our guys that the way we left the court last time (after Saturday's loss to Cincinnati) and our crowd gave us a standing ovation that we had a chance to prove to them tonight that we are ready to take a step forward as a team. The fans have been great for us this year."

"We got some contributions tonight from some guys that we really needed to step up."

On Marques Bennett's two key steals with four minutes remaining "He gets credit for that because of his hustle, but it is also our team defense that helps out on that."

On The Free Throw Shooting in the Game "They made just about every free throw tonight. (Alex) Dunn is a 60 percent free throw shooter throughout the year and tonight he hit 10-for-10, but he's a senior and that what he is supposed to do."

"We made out fair share for the line too."

On The UD Team Defense "Our wings did a good job with the way they extended us."

"When we front, we are still fronting with 6-7 guys, which means that we need help on the backside."

Dayton Player Quotes

SENIOR GUARD Mark Jones "We had the poise that was needed. In front of our crowd we're more relaxed than we are on the road. We made big plays, hit some big shots, and that helped us get the win."

JUNIOR GUARD Warren Williams "Every day we've just kept getting better, and we owe a lot of it to the fans. They are making us better."

FRESHMAN GUARD Brian Roberts On playing a strong game "That's what I intended to do. The coaches have been telling me to be more aggressive and go out there with confidence. That's what I did, and when you do, good things happen."

WYOMING HEAD COACH STEVE McCLAIN "We made some adjustments in the second half, but it was a tough environment and we couldn't get anything to fall."

"We made a great run, even game. One or two possessions didn't go the right way."

"It would have been a 10 or 15-point win if we played the way we played when we were pressing effectively."