I picked a new cheesesteak restaurant to visit Tuesday in Philadelphia: Shank’s Original. After too many trips to the famous places, Geno’s and Pat’s, in numerous trips to cover games at La Salle and Saint Joseph’s over the last 10 seasons, I wanted a change of pace. Shank’s had ambience, and the cheesesteak filled my stomach, but let’s be honest, it’s basically a meat and cheese smoothie on a bun. The place is right on the Delaware River on the south side of downtown. I shared my dining spot with a couple of ducks. Ben Franklin probably fed their ancestors in the same spot. I don’t know if the Founding Fathers would have been La Salle fans if the school had been around then. There are many college basketball programs to choose from in Philadelphia. Maybe that’s why La Salle has such a hard time drawing fans. Dayton fans complain every time the Flyers play in Tom Gola Arena. They’ve got a good argument. A program that can draw 13,407 fans to every game shouldn’t have to play in a gym that seats 3,400 and usually draws far less than that (1,571 on Tuesday). Most A-10 schools will have either a band or a student section (and usually both), and La Salle had neither at this game. Koby Brea’s family and friends, who traveled down from the Bronx, did raise the decibel level. Former UD President Dr. Daniel Curran was also in the front row behind the bench. I talked to him after the game about his famous crowdsurfing moment during the NCAA tournament 10 years ago. “It was a great time,” Curran said. “The students were always great.” It’s hard to blame La Salle fans too much for not showing up to this game because the Explorers are off to a 1-5 start in the A-10 and haven’t had a winning conference record since 2013, but Dayton fans will continue to dream about the Big East as long as their team has to play at La Salle. So many times over the years, fans have wondered if the subpar atmosphere at La Salle plays a part in Dayton’s losses. That wasn’t the case this time. This was another game that Dayton controlled all the way. The Flyers didn’t have their best shooting night but still won 66-54 to set up a first-place showdown at Richmond on Saturday.
Four years ago this week, Dayton took a 6-0 A-10 record into a game at Richmond and won 87-79. The lasting image from that game was a windmill dunk by Obi Toppin. Right behind him was Ryan Mikesell doing the windmill motion with his arm. Will history repeat itself Saturday? Probably not with a windmill dunk. Dayton has a few good dunkers, including the most prolific dunker in school history in DaRon Holmes II, but no one in the category of Toppin, one of the world’s best dunkers. Speaking of dunks, check out my story about the best dunks in UD history in the Dayton Daily News on Sunday. Dayton has won 10 straight regular-season games against Richmond and four in a row at the Robins Center but has reason to be wary of the Spiders, who take a nine-game winning streak into this game. Richmond has built a 6-0 A-10 record against a tougher schedule, beating three teams in the top half of the standings: Loyola Chicago; George Mason; and George Washington. Dayton’s six victories have come against six of the seven teams at the bottom of the standings. Dayton and Richmond play only once so this game could go a long way to determining the A-10 regular-season champion and top seed in the A-10 tournament. Richmond needs a victory because it is 0-2 in Quad 1 games and doesn’t have much of a NCAA tournament at-large resume at this point. It needs to beat Dayton and keep stacking wins to get into the conversation. Dayton can afford to lose this game but is trying to get the best possible seed in the NCAA tournament, and another Quad 1 victory would bolster an already strong resume. The best place to view Dayton’s resume and how it is doing in all the different NCAA Evaluation Tool quads is on WarrenNolan.com. Click here.
Our staff put together a Dayton Flyers history quiz this week. I scored 70%. It wasn’t easy. I’m sure we’ll have more pieces of content such as this as the season progresses. Interest in the Flyers is always high. It will skyrocket in a season like this. Please consider subscribing to the Dayton Daily News (print or digital) to support our efforts. I’m the only writer in the A-10 who goes to every road game, and that’s thanks to everyone who reads my stories. Part of that has to do with so many programs being in cities where they are not the biggest show. The Flyers are definitely Dayton’s most popular team. Another story I wrote this week was titled, “Thirteen reasons for 13 Dayton victories.” I found a number of fun facts for that story. Here’s another fact I might be able to include in a future story. If Dayton wins two more games, it will have posted a perfect record in December and January for the first time ever. The Flyers were 5-0 in December. If they beat Richmond and then George Washington on Tuesday at UD Arena, they will finish 8-0 in January. The 1955-56 Flyers almost made it through both months without a loss. They were 14-0 when they lost 66-64 at Louisville in overtime on Jan. 28, 1956. Four years ago, the Flyers lost 78-76 in overtime to Colorado on Dec. 19, 2019, and finished 14-1 in December and January.
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans: 🏀 DaRon Holmes II ranked 30th among 2024 NBA Draft prospects on a list published this week by The Ringer. “He’s just figuring out how to play in his body,” Kevin O’Connor wrote. “He was listed at 6-foot-8 as a high school senior, then sprouted to 6-foot-10 at Dayton. He is now around 230 pounds, with a long wingspan and explosive leaping ability. 🏀 A legendary Philadelphia sports writer, Dick Weiss, covered Dayton’s game at La Salle. Anthony Grant recognized him and was happy to see him in the postgame interview session. Weiss focused on Holmes for a story on BlueStarMedia.org. “Daron Holmes II is having the type of season that is attracting first round looks from NBA scouts,” Weiss wrote. “The 6-10, 235-pound junior is rapidly turning into an unstoppable force in the Atlantic 10 for a 16-2 team that jumped from 22 to 16 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll.”
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