Oct. 14, 2006

Photo Gallery

The basketball season kicked off at the University of Dayton Friday night when the Flyer men's and women's teams were introduced at Flyer Madness. It was the final event of a "Flyer Filled Friday" as the UD volleyball team swept Rhode Island, 3-0 and the women's soccer team shutout Duquesne, 1-0.

The basketball activities began with an autograph session and the distribution of student ticket vouchers. After the cheerleaders and Flyer Pep Band started the on-court activities, the crowd of over 2,700 fans came to their feet at Frericks Center during the player introductions.

UD women's coach Jim Jabir and men's coach Brian Gregory kept the fans fired up for one of the highlights of the evening was "Towel Guy", who returned to perform his now famous dance to the song SANDSTORM.

Both teams then took to the court in a more familiar setting with a pair of basketball contests taking place. Dayton junior Brittany Holterman teamed up with UD undergrad John Lincoln to win the "Hot Shot" competition. With the victory, Lincoln earned himself two front row tickets in the student section to the Flyer men's game versus Xavier at UD Arena on Feb. 24. Marcus Johnson followed to win the slam dunk contest in a close vote by members of Red Scare.

"We always have a great time at Flyer Madness, and that's because the students come out and really get into it," Gregory said. "We appreciate them coming out. The players on both teams work extra hard because they understand that all of us -- the players, the coaches and the fans - are part of a great basketball tradition at a great University."

"Our fans are the best fans, and we want them to be a part of our success," Jabir said. "We look to continue the momentum we are bringing into this season, and our fans make a big difference for us. A night like tonight shows that we have a great college basketball atmosphere here at UD."

Both the UD men's and women's teams will practice behind closed doors Saturday. Dayton teams' next public event is the intrasquad Red and Blue Game, which will be held Saturday, October 21 at the University of Dayton Arena.

The women tip off at 12 Noon ET while the men tip off at 2:00 p.m. ET. Both teams will conduct autograph sessions on the concourse. Please check www.DaytonFlyers.com prior to the event for autograph times.

Doors open at 11:00 a.m. ET and the athletics department will conduct tours of UD Arena until 1:30 p.m. ET. Fans will be able to access the Donoher Center, Time Warner Cable Flight Deck and the Boesch Lounge. Fans won't need to fret missing other sporting events that day as they will be shown on television monitors throughout the Arena. The WHIO Radio broadcast of UD's football game at Davidson will be piped into the East and West wings.

UD Arena ticket office staff also will be available to talk to anyone interested in purchasing season tickets, which fans can pick out that day.