OBSERVATIONS: Obi’s new companion and a crowded Reds outfield

By HAL McCOY

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while counting the days until spring training and the NCAA basketball tournament, two of my most favorite things.

—What price glory? Ask Obidiah (‘Just call me Obi’) Toppin.

On the last two trips to St. Louis and Richmond, the University of Dayton assigned a security guard to accompany Toppin wherever he goes — except when he slam dunks. And he will have that shadow the rest of the season.

Why? With his popularity, Toppin is being mobbed. Mostly, though, it is to keep agents and scouts away from him.

When the Flyers played last Saturday at the University of Richmond, the Spiders student section serenaded Toppin with, “Toppin sucks” and “overrated,” even when he executed that windmill slam dunk.

Toppin responded with 24 points, 12 rebounds, five slam dunks, four blocked shots, three assists and a partridge in a pear tree.

Stay classy, Richmond.

—QUOTE: From Reggie Jackson, baseball’s Mr. October: “People don’t boo nobodies.”

—The Cincinnati Reds continue to gather outfielders like migrant workers picking fruit.

After signing Japanese outfielder Shogo Akiyama to a three-year $21 million deal, they signed outfielder Nick Castellanos to a four-year $64 million contract.

With that kind of money, it is assured that Akiyama will play center field and Castellanos will play left field.

That leaves one spot for Aristides Aquino, Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker and Phillip Ervin, unless the club plans to use a six-man outfield.

Aquino was an August demon and a September dud. So which is he, really? If he doesn’t play solidly during spring training he could end up in Triple-A to start the season.

The Reds also signed infielder Mike Moustakas to a four-year $64 million contract, so it is for sure he will play second base.

That leaves Nick Senzel out in the cold, right? There are reports that Senzel is being dangled as trade bait. Could the Los Angeles Dodgers be interested in a package for shortstop Corey Seager? Right now, Freddy Galvis is the anointed shortstop. He is a top-shelf glove with a suspect bat and Seager would be an upgrade that would make the Reds formidable.

The only weak spot right now is the bullpen, somebody to go with Michael Lorenzen, Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson. Can they trust Raisel Iglesias as the closer?

An upgrade is needed and Senzel could be used to add bullpen strength.

Stay tuned. After spending $164 million on three free agents and pitcher Wade Miley (two years, $15 million) the next move probably is a trade.

For sure, the Reds are giving it the ol’ professional try and have moved themselves into contenders instead of their usual pretenders in the National League Central.

—QUOTE: From Hall of Fame pitcher and manager Bob Lemon: “I’ve come to the conclusion that the two most imporant things in life are good friends and a good bullpen.” (Hey, Reds, are you listening?)

—Yes, Kobe Bryant was named after the Japanese kobe beef. But what is with his middle name. Bean?

Just a guess, but maybe it is because his father, Joe Bryant, also an NBA player, was nicknamed Jellybean.

—While is it fun watching the University of Dayton basketball team, it is almost as much fun watching the Wright State University basketball team.

While UD star Obi Toppin is as smooth as a silk dress, Wright State star Loudon Love should wear a blue collar on top of his uniform and carry a lunch pail.

He is not blessed with Toppin’s natural ability, but Love is a guy who has to work hard for everything he gets. While Toppin is a ghost around the basket, Love is a beast who would run over his grandmother to get a rebound.

QUOTE: From former Chicago Bulls ferocious rebounder Dennis Rodman: “I’m hungrier than those other guys out there. Every rebound is personal challenge.” (That seems to be Love’s attitude, too.)

MY FAVORITE BASEBALL MOVIES: Major League (I watched it every year before going to spring training to get me in the mood), Bull Durham, Field of Dreams (my field of dreams was a vacant lot in Akron near my home with a billboard as the outfield wall), A League of Their Own (baseball with skirts), The Natural (Robert Redford looks as if he really could play the game), Eight Men Out (Did the Black Sox really throw the 1919 World Series, or just take the money and try to win?), The Sandlot (“You’re killin’ me, Smalls.”), Bang the Drum Slowly (A baseball tear jerker.)

But my favorite sports movie of all-time: Hoosiers. Does any basketball team run ‘The Picket Fence?”

UD scores points in flurries to hold off Richmond, 87-79

By HAL McCOY

The script was familiar for the University of Dayton basketball team Saturday night in Richmond. And as long as it works, why not keep using it?

As they have done time and time and time again this season, the Flyers used some explosive runs to score an 87-79 victory over a feisty University of Richmond.

The Flyers were down four points, 28-24, late in the first half. They finished the half on a 16-4 run to take a 40-32 halftime lead.

Richmond scored the first basket of the second half, then the Flyers went on a 12-0 splurge to grab a 52-34 lead.

Was it over? Usually when the Flyers rip off a rowdy run, the opponent goes away. Not Richmond, a team that was 14-5 with a win over Wisconsin and a 5-1 record in the Atlantic 10.

Not even when the Flyers led by 20, 64-44, with eight minutes left did Richmond call it quits. The Spiders went on their own run, a 17-5 sprint that pulled them within eight, 71-63.

Guess who came riding to the rescue? Yes, Mr. Clutcher himself, Jalen Crutcher. He buried a three from the left corner with 3:20 left to give the Flyers a 74-63 lead.

The Spiders kept hanging around and were within six, 82-76, but Crutcher struck again with a pair of free throws and the Flyers fended them off the rest of the way.

It was a big night for UD roommates — Crutcher and Obi Toppin. Crutcher scored a career-high 24 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists.

With 10 NBA scouts scattered around Robins Arena, Toppin put on his usual eye-popping show — 24 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists.

And, of course, there were the slam dunks, five of them, including one wind mill that belonged among the dikes in The Netherlands. His double-double was his fifth this season.

His dunk totals keep mounting — 151 for his career of less than two years, 68 this season.

Toppin appears to carry a grudge against the commonwealth of Virginia. He scored 24 against Virginia Tech, 24 against Virginia Commonwealth and 24 against Richmond.

As usual, Ibi Watson came off the bench to do stellar work, contributing 14 points, while Ryan Mikesell scored 10 and snagged seven rebounds.

Once again the Flyers not only shot the lights out, they unscrewed the bulbs, hitting 53 per cent (29 for 54). Crutcher was 8 for 12 that included four of seven three-pointers. Toppin was 9 for 15.

A pair of Spiders spun a tough web on the Flyers. Jacob Gilyard, a 5-foot-9 bottle of energy, scored 29. He is the guy who hit eight threes against the Flyers last year. He only made five Saturday, but only tried eight.

Gilyard had help from Nick Sherod with 21 points. Gilyard only averages 14 and Sherod averages 13.

Crunching the numbers: The seventh-ranked Flyers are 18-2 and 7-0 in the Atlantic 10. They’ve won nine straight and are 4-0 on the road. They have beaten Richmond eight straight times. The Spiders were 9-and-1 at home when UD came calling.

“Richmond has a very good team and they showed it,” said UD coach Anthony Grant. “They have a lot of fight. We got up big but they didn’t quit.

“Our guys persevered because we got into foul trouble early (Trey Landers picked up three midway through the first half).”

Grant, alway a man with a plan, especially defensively, was more than pleased with this important A-10 win.

“Our guys did a great job of following the scouting report it taking some things away from them,” he said. “We’re still a work in progress, but we’re meeting the challenges that come up with every game. To be able to go out and get a win on the road in this environment is good for our team. Just two years ago, we did not win a game on the road.”

Jalen (Clutcher) Crutcher’s ‘three’ at buzzer beats Saint Louis in overtime

By HAL McCOY

The Saint Louis University basketball team wears an imprint of the Gateway Arch on their white home uniforms, a landmark on the banks of the Mississippi River that is 630 feet tall.

And with 7:40 left in a basketball game at Chaifetz Arena Friday night, the University of Dayton Flyers trailed Saint Louis by 13 points.

It looked as if it would be easier for the Flyers to trudge up the steps to the top of the Gateway Arch than to come back and win this game.

But, defying all odds against a sold out hostile crowd and a highly motivated Saint Louis team, the Flyers did it in magnificent fashion, 78-76, in overtime.

It ended with one-tenth of a second remaining in overtime on an improbable three-point basket.

And if you don’t know who performed that rescue, you haven’t been paying attention to UD basketball the past couple of years.

His name is Jalen Crutcher, but for obvious reasons, his teammates call him Jalen Clutcher. Clutch is the name and winning plays is his game.

Yuri Collins made two free throws with six seconds left to give Saint Louis a 76-75 lead and it looked as if the Flyers were neck deep in the middle of the Mississippi.

Crutcher, though, threw his entire team life vests. He took the inbounds pass. On the sidelines, UD coach Anthony Grant was screaming for a time out. But nobody heard him in the cacophony.

Crutcher swooped up the court until he got near the three-point line and took a bump from Demarius Jacobs that knocked him off balance to his left.

Unaffected, Crutcher righted himself and let fly from about 25 feet, well beyond the line. The ball nestled in the twine with the clock showing 0:00.01.

And the Flyers had a big, big win in a game in which they played most of the game as if they were not interested in winning.

Instead, the 13th-ranked Flyers sped to 16-and-2 overall and 5-and-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. And the road win came against the A-10’s defending tournament champions and a team that was 9-and-0 at home.

Crutcher’s game-ending three was the eye-popper, but the entire five-minute overtime session belonged to the 6-foot-1 junior point guard from Memphis, Grant’s first recruit.

The Flyers trailed, 72-71, when Crutcher drove for the hoop and missed at 2:25. And it was still 72-71 with 49 seconds left when Crutcher went to the foul line and sank two free throws.

So, the Flyers led 73-72, with 49 seconds left. But Javonte Perkins drove for a basket with 33 seconds left and Saint Louis was back in command, 74-73.

Alas, Crutcher stepped to the foul line again at 0:71 and buried two more freebies for a 75-74 UD lead.

All looked lost for the Flyers, though, when Yuri Collins sank his two free throws with six seconds left to put the Flyers down a point again.

Then, it was Jalen Crutcher again to the rescue with his three-pointer. Crutcher scored seven of UD’s nine points in overtime.

And he finished with 21 points as the Flyers won their first game in overtime this season. Their two defeats this year were both in overtime to Kansas and Colorado.

The Flyers won this one despite playing their worst first half of the season. They scored a season’s worst 25 points in the first 20 minutes and were 1 for 10 from three-point land.

And they won it despite falling behind in the second half by 13 points, 55-42, with 7:40 left.

It was Ibi Watson, the off-the-bench scoring machine, who brought the Flyers back. He scored eight quick points and just like that UD was within three at 58-55.

When it was 55-42, UD scored eight points in 30 seconds to cut that lead to 55-50. Watson drove for a basket, hit a three and Crutcher hit a three in that half-a-minute blast.

Obi Toppin struggled mightily in the first half, which meant the Flyers struggled, too, as the Billikens put everybody but the student body on Toppin when he had the ball.

He had only four points at halftime on 2 for 11 shooting, including a missed dunk and 1 for 3 on three-point tries and UD trailed by eight, 33-25..

But he came around in the second half — 5 for 5, including two threes, and ripped down 10 rebounds en route to 20 points. And the Flyers needed all those rebounds because they were outboarded by the Billikens, 42-30.

After the 2 for 11 from beyond the line in the first half, the Flyers hit 7 for 14 in the second half, including Crutcher’s shot that will be part of his UD lore.

In addition to the 21 from Crutcher and 20 from Toppin, Watson came off the chairs to score 17 and Trey Landers added 14.

Javonte Perkins led Saint Louis with 25 and behemoth-beast Hasahn French snagged 17 rebounds and added 16 points. Jordan Goodwin, averaging 25.5 points a game, scored only 15.

The major difference on this day, other than Jalen Crutcher, was the comical performance of Saint Louis at the foul line. Perkins was 7 for 9, but the rest of the Billikens were 13 for 28. French was 4 for 10 and actually shot two air balls on free throws.

UD’s next challenge is at home against St. Bonaventure Wednesday night. The Bonnies were blasted badly Saturday afternoon at VCU, a team the Flyers beat badly at home last week. St. Bonaventure was 4-and-0 in the Atlantic 10 until VCU happened.

Flyers overcome early struggles to beat Saint Joseph’s

By HAL McCOY

The University of Dayton Flyers basketball team answered three poignant questions about itself Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia — questions they hoped they’d never have to confront.

—Can they win a game when they played relatively poorly against a bad team?

Yes.

—Can they win a game when superstar Obi Toppin becomes a sideline spectator, nearly all of the second half, with four fouls?

Yes.

—Can they win a game when point guard Jalen Crutcher has a rare day full of struggles?
Yes.

The Flyers overcame all three of those dilemmas to post an 80-67 victory over Saint Joseph’s, a team that began the game with a 3-and-10 record.

And it is a team that lost a game to Temple, 108-61, and lost its last game to Richmond, 84-52, In addition, the Hawks lost games to Old Dominion, Chicago Loyola, Lafayette, Missouri State and Towson State.

The Flyers, though, had a demon to exorcise. They hadn’t won a game in Hagan Arena in 20 years — nine losses in a row with their last win in Hagan coming in 2000.

And for a half and the first couple of minutes of the second half it looked as if that demon was going to stick another pitchfork into the Flyers.
It was 33-33 at halftime. And the Hawks outscored the Flyers, 9-2, to start the second half and snatched a 42-35 lead.

To get that lead, Ryan Daly scored underneath and was fouled by Toppin, his third foul.

Daly was a needle in the posterior all afternoon to the Flyers. He averages 17 shots a game and 19.8 points. On this day, he flipped in a game-high 22 points.

The Flyers, though, put on an 11-1 run to take a 46-43 lead and UD appeared on its way to the expected runaway victory.

That’s when Toppin picked up his fourth foul with 14:41 left in the game — time for the Flyers to show what they can do without him, because he did not appear again until three minutes were left in the game.

And they did right well, thank you, thanks to Ibi Watson and Trey Landers.

UD led, 50-49, with 10 minutes left. Landers and Jalen Crutcher hit threes to give the Flyers a 56-49 lead.

Then it was Watson, Watson and more Watson. He scored UD’s next 13 points to keep the Flyers in front, 69-62.

The finishing act was furnished by Ryan Mikesell, Trey Landers and Toppin.

Mikesell, who opened the game by scoring UD’s first eight points, hit two free throws, and finished with 18 points.

Landers buried a three, his career-best fourth trey (after all, his first name is Trey), en route to 18 points and nine rebounds.

Toppin returned to the game with three minutes left and quickly enacted a reverse dunk, his only dunk of the game, to give the Flyers a 76-64 lead with 1:50 left.

That sealed the deal, lifting the 20th-ranked Flyers to 13-and-2, 2-and-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Despite the early struggle, UD won its 12th game this season by double digits.

Toppin scored 15 on six of eight shooting while playing barely half the game, 21 minutes.

Point guard Jalen Crutcher scored 10 points, but was 4 for 15 from the field, 1 for 6 from three with several missed layups. Where did he make it up? He had 10 assists.

In the first half, the Flyers offense was lethargic and without intensity. Saint Joseph’s collapsed two and three defenders on Toppin and the Flyers fired away from three-point land, but fired blanks, hitting only 4 of 17. And they made only 12 of 34 shots overall to leave the floor tied at 33.

They were much more Flyer-like in the second half — 15 for 27, 6 of 12 from three. For the game UD made 17 of 18 free throws while the home-shooting Hawks made only 13 of 22.

“Our team really responded because we thought Saint Joseph’s was a dangerous team,” UD coach Anthony Grant told play-by-play broadcaster Larry Hansgen after the game. “They have really good talent and Ryan Daly (22 points) is one of the more explosive players offensively in our conference.

“We had to figure this game out and I thought our team, overall, did a really good job of making the adjustments we had to make, both offensively and defensively.

“We rushed some of our threes in the first half,” he added. “They had a game plan to pack the lane and put two and three guys on Obi and invited us to take early contested shots and we took the bait a little bit.”

The Flyers made that adjustment for the second half and Landers and Watson took command.

Of the second half, Grant said, “They made four of their first five shots (to take a 42-37 lead), but after that our guys locked in defensively. We made some adjustments and it proved to be beneficial for us.”

Of finally winning a game in Hagan Arena after two decades of futility, Grant said, “I’m glad we were able to have a lot of happy Flyer fans able to leave this arena who hadn’t seen the Dayton Flyers win a game here in a long time. Instead of hearing our fans say, ‘Congratulations. great game,’
our players heard them say, ‘Thank you.’”

The Flyers return to UD Arena Saturday afternoon for their third A-10 game, this one against Massachusetts, another team the Flyers are expected to dominate.

UD annihilates LaSalle in Philly, 84-58

By HAL McCOY

The school motto on the University of Dayton campus is: “Our home is a powerhouse.”

That motto certainly fits the school’s basketball team because the University of Dayton Flyers are a certified powerhouse.

And they seem to get better and better and better with each passing game.

Some solid evidence surfaced Thursday night in Philadelphia, which has not been The City of Brotherly Love to the Flyers.

They had lost eight straight games in Philly, hadn’t won a game there since 2011, four losses to LaSalle at Tom Gola Arena and four losses to St. Joseph’s at Hagan Arena.

The Flyers rid themselves of one demon Thursday night, totally dismantling LaSalle, 84-58, in their Atlantic 10 opener.

And the 12-2 Flyers get a chance to remove the St. Joseph’s gorilla Sunday afternoon.

LaSalle, 9-and-3 when the night began, clung close to the Flyers for six minutes and trailed by only 14-12 with 14:14 left in the first half.

Then it became a one-sided affair, almost as if the Flyers were on the court by themselves. They went on an unfathomable 24-2 runs, ballooning their lead to 38-14.

LaSalle scored only two points over a nine-minute span and when they had the courage to look at the scoreboard the Explorers were 24 points down.

And the 20th-ranked Flyers didn’t let up. By halftime they were still up 22 points, 46-24.

Obi Toppin, who dunked 10 times against North Florida on Monday, didn’t have a dunk in the first half. But he led the Flyers with 11 points and found his teammates with sharp passing over and over again.

The dunk dilemma was solved early in the second half when Toppin scored three straight baskets, two on dunks, pushing UD to a 61-32 lead.

UD built a game-high 31-point lead at 74-43 midway through the second half and coasted home. And this came against a team that lost to No. 10 Villanova by only 11 points and a team that beat Wright State, 72-70 on a neutral court.

UD shot 68 per cent from the field in the first half and completely shut down the Explorers from outside. LaSalle, who has two players shooting more than 40 per cent from the three-point line, was 0 for 5 from three in the first half.

With 20 NBA scouts stuffed into the tiny gym, Toppin was near perfection in all categories. He finished with 20 points on 7 for 9 shooting (1 for 1 from three, was 5 for 5 on the foul line, had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. And was, as usual, total humble pie after the game

“We trust each other and we have a brotherhood on the court like no other,” he said. “We have real good coaches and real good players and on offense we are amazing.”

Jalen Crutcher backed up Toppin with 15 points, Ryan Mikesell was five for six from the field for 11 points and Trey Landers added 10 points.

The Flyers held LaSalle’s leading scorer, Isiah Deas, to 10 points and he didn’t score his first points until 15 1/2 minutes were left in the game and UD led, 61-32.

UD made 31 of 58 shots (5 for 15 from three), 53.4 per cent, while hold LaSalle to 23 of 66 (34.8 per cent) and just 3 of 17 from three.

As the score indicates, the game was total domination by the Flyers. They outscored LaSalle in the paint, 48-30 and outscored them off turnovers, 29-16.

Asked what he expected at the end of the season, Toppin smiled broadly and said, “National championship.”

The Flyer continue to be rated as the most efficient offensive team in the country and they are second in the nation in assists per game. They had 22 assists Thursday.

The Flyers will stay in Philadelphia the next three days and if they don’t overstuff themselves on Philly cheese steaks they should be heavily favored Sunday against St. Joseph’s.

Toppin dunks 10 times as Flyers bury North Florida, 77-59

By HAL McCOY

There once was a team, back in the early 1980s, that called itself Phi Slama Jama. It was the University of Houston and the fraternity nickname came from the fact that the team dunked, dunked, dunked and dunked some more.

On Monday night in UD Arena, the University of Dayton Flyers concocted their own version of Phi Slama Jama during a 77-59 victory over the University of North Florida.

Obi Toppin dunked 10 times. Yes, 10. T-e-n. Guard Ryan Mikesell, who seldom dunks, dunked twice. Trey Landers, taking a lob pass from Toppin, dunked.

Toppin finished with a career-high 31 points. And the amazing thing about it was that he dunked in the first minute of the game.

Then he went scoreless until only two minutes were left in the half. Then he scored the final six points of the first half, two on dunks, as the Flyers built a 42-28 lead.

The second half was Toppin Time. He scored 20 of his 31 in the second half, nearly all of them on dunks off lob passes from his observant teammates.

And how did this all unfold?

“We knew the defense they were going to run,” said Toppin. “It was open in the post. They were helping in the post and my teammates kept finding me down there and I scored off of that.”

And scored and scored and scored.

So, the Flyers finished their pre-conference schedule 11-and-2, putting together perhaps their best all-around game so far this season.

They were in constant motion, both offensively and defensively. The Northern Florida Ospreys are birds of treys.

They came into the game leading the nation averaging 13 made three-pointers a game. And they lead the nation in three-point attempts per gamer with 34.

The hustling and bustling Flyers protected the three-point line as if was their personal property, pushing the Ospreys away from it and forcing them to force bad shots.

North Florida was 6 for 15 at halftime from trey territory. And the Flyers harassed them into 13 first-half points, turning steals into easy baskets. And they outscored North Florida 20-0 on fast break points.

And there was significance to UD’s 18-point win. North Florida had lost five games to Top 60 teams — Florida, Iowa, Creighton, Florida State and Syracuse.

Dayton’s 18-point margin is the biggest. The Ospreys lost to Florida by 15, to Iowa by 15, to Creighton by nine, to Florida State by 17 and to Syracuse by 12.

Now the Flyers turn their attention to Atlantic 10 play with two games in Philadelphia over the next six days — LaSalle on Thursday and St. Joseph’s on Sunday.

“Our team has been through so much and we worked so hard during our non-conference games,” said Toppin. “Now the conference time has come and we’re ready. We can’t wait.”

Trey Landers chipped in with 15 points, Jalen Crutcher added 11 and Ryan Mikesell had nine. Starter Rodney Chatman scored only four, but he was Toppin’s best friend with nine assists.

No North Florida player hit his average. Carter Hendricksen, averaging nearly 17, led the Ospreys with 12. Ivan Gandia-Ross had 10 and Wajid Aminu had 10.

The team numbers said it all.

The Flyers outscored North Florida on fast breaks, 22-1. The outscored them on points off turnovers, 21-8 (North Florida turned it over 21 times) and Flyers outscored the Ospreys in the paint, 52-18. Toppin’s 31 points all had paint stains.

Toppin, a red shirt sophomore, has played less than a season-and-a-half and owns 128 dunks. If he played for that Houston team, he would be president of Phi Slama Jama.

Watson, Chatman carry Flyers past Grambling, 81-53, with career bests

By HAL McCOY

If the University of Dayton basketball team scanned the statistics of Grambling State’s early-season games, they might have entered Monday’s night’s game at UD Arena with some trepidation.

Early in the season Grambling scored 145 points in one game and 102 in another. But the 145 came against a school called Ecclesia College and the 102 came against East Texas Baptist.

If they checked Grambling’s more recent scores they discovered the Tigers were blown out by San Jose State, Oregon State and Marquette.

And the Flyers made certain they were in the San Jose State, Oregon State and Marquette category, hanging an 81-53 lambasting on the Tigers, coached by former Central State player and coach Donte Jackson.

On Saturday in Chicago, the Flyers built a 19-5 lead over Colorado, but lost in overtime, 78-76.

On Monday, the Flyers built a 19-6 lead over Grambling and kept building because, well, Grambling is not Colorado.

The Flyers did it with one of their best players sitting out the game. Jalen Crutcher, who hit the floor hard in Chicago, did not play.

That gave Ibi Watson his first chance to start and the transfer from Michigan took full advantage. He scored 17 points in the first half as the Flyers led at intermission, 40-22.

The Flyers, employing a zone, held the Tigers to 27 per cent shooting in the first half that included 0 for 11 from three-point territory.

After losing in overtime to Colorado, the 10-and-2 Flyers fell from 13th to 18th in the Associated Press rankings, but used Grambling as a foil to add to their resume.

They held the Tigers to 27 points below their season scoring average of 80 points and held Grambling to 39 per cent shooting, 2 for 19 from three-point country.

The score was 6-6 when the Flyers took away any thoughts Grambling had of pulling a stunner. UD went on a 13-0 run to grab that 19-6 lead and never even glanced over their shoulders after that.

Watson scored seven of those 13 points en route to his 17 in the first 20 minutes. Rodney Chatman  complemented Watson with 12 in the first half.

The Flyers expanded their lead to 20 early in the second half, 44-24, then took a brief rest and Grambling worked its way back to within 10, 52-42 with 10 minutes left.

And it was still 10, 54-44, with eight minutes left when Watson hit a corner three for a career-high 22 points and a 57-47 Flyers lead.

Watson grabbed a Grambling missed shot and lobbed a pass under to Jordy Tshimanga for a basketball and a foul, a three-point play that pushed the Flyers back to 60-44.

The lead was stretched to 21 when Watson buried a three from downtown Dayton and was knocked to the floor. He completed the four-point play with a free throw.

With Crutcher out, both Watson and Chatman charged to the forefront with Watson scoring a career-best 30 and Chatman scoring a career-best 17 with six assists.

Crutcher is UD’s assist leader, but the Flyers didn’t falter, producing 19 assists as they continue to lead the nation in assists per game.

After Watson hit 30 with two free throws with 2:20 left, he was taken out to a standing ovation from the Flyer Faithful.

Grambling beat Ecclesia, 145-52, which piqued some interest in just who Ecclesia is. As of Monday, the small Christian work college in Springdale, Ark., was 2-and-14.

In its first three games, Ecclesia gave up 107, 108 and 104 points. And the Royals gave up more than 100 points in nine of their 14 losses.

Unfortunately, or is it fortunately, Ecclesia is not on Dayton’s schedule.

OBSERVATIONS: A view from the Sun Room rocking chair

By HAL McCOY

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Sun Room, staying within reach of my walker and those infernal plastic urinals. Nadine asked me today when is the best time to check my blood pressure and I said, “Well, in the hospital it was every time I went to sleep.”

—QUOTE: From Ronald Dahl, “Those who don’t believe in magic won’t ever find it.” (I’m still looking and I’m certain it isn’t at the bottom of a flight of stairs.)

—The most head-shaking event in the sporting world this week was the New England Patriots taking video of the Cincinnati Bengals sideline during last Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.

That has to be the biggest waste of videotape since the filming of ‘The Creature From the Black Lagoon.’ Why would the Pats need to cheat to beat the Bengals? All they need to do to is yank up their socks and strap on their helmets.

—Should the Cleveland Browns be shocked that Odell Beckham Jr. is an off-the-field distraction? It is in his DNA. And in his case DNA stands for Do Not Agree.

Opposing coaches and players say OBJ is telling them, “Get me out of Cleveland.” OBJ says it isn’t so. Hey, people asking to get them out of Cleveland isn’t novel.

What is clear is that the Cleveland Browns are the most dysfunctional team in the NFL. How long do you think it will be before Nick Chubb is saying, “Get me out of Cleveland. They hide the football from me up here.”

—QUOTE: From TV/movie star Lucille Ball: “Love yourself first and everything else falls in line.” (Words to live by, OBJ.)

—Joe Namath’s commercial makes me want to turn down Medicare.

—QUOTE: From former New York Jets quarterback/playboy Joe Namath: “When we won the league championship, all the married guys had to thank their wives for putting up with all the stress. I had to thank all the single broads in New York.”

—The multi-talented University of Dayton basketball team is overstuffed with talent. So far coach Anthony Grant is doing a marvelous job of keeping everybody happy with playing time. That will be his biggest challenge this season.

The 14th-ranked Flyers lead the NCAA in field goal percentage and assists. Those go hand-in-hand. The Flyers share the ball like the kids in The Little Old Lady’s shoe shared space. They pass up good shots to get the ball to a guy with a better shot and that leads to high shooting percentages.

What fans have to like most is that program insiders say, “These guys genuinely like one another and all they care about is winning.”

And the Flyers have the best leadership possible in senior Trey Landers and graduate student Ryan Mikesell. In both cases, their line scores could be 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 and as long as the Flyers win, they’d be smiling.

—QUOTE: From NBA great Michael Jordan: “You must expect great things from yourselves before you can do them.” (There is no doubt the Flyers are expecting great things and so far they are displaying it.)

—Let’s see, UD beat Indiana State at UD Arena and Wright State lost to Indiana State in overtime in the Nutter Center. What does that mean? Nothing. The Raiders are for real.

There is a better-than-average chance that the Dayton area could have two league champions — UD the Atlantic 10 and Wright State the Horizon League.

—And don’t ever count out Sinclair Community College. The Pride (of downtown Dayton) is 9-and-0 and ranked No. 5 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II rankings.

The Pride is led by effervescent coach Jeff Price and plays home games in the only basketball facility in the country called Building 8.

Sean McNeil, Sinclair’s star operative last season, is playing for Bob Huggins at West Virginia (8-1). He is coming off the bench and average 14 minutes and 6.8 points.

—Pardon me if I’m not whistling Take Me Out to the Ball Game with what the Cincinnati Reds have done so far.

They signed free agent infielder Mike Moustakas to a four-year $64 million deal. He created a social media flutter when he said, “Now I can feed my kids.” Does that mean he can sprinkle lobster tails on their breakfast cereal?

Moustakas is a natural third baseman, but he won’t move Eugenio Suarez off third base. The Reds plan to play him at second base. He played second some last season for Milwaukee and was OK, but has limited range.

He has power and should connect often, 30 or more, in Great American Small Park. He hit .254 with 35 home runs for the Brewers last year. But he is like so many players these days — his on-base percentage is .310.

—It is humorous, especially during baseball’s winter meetings, to read from various outlets that, “The Reds are interested in this player and the Reds are interested in that player. . .” Of course, they should be interested in all good available, affordable players.

The trick is in signing the players they were “interested” in signing and didn’t. Like Yasmani Grandal and Zack Wheeler and Didi Gregorious and others.

—If you believe pitcher Gerrit Cole and his $324 million contract was the big winner during the winter meetings, think again.

The real winner was super agent Scott Boras. He is Cole’s agent. He is Stephen Strasburg’s agent ($245 million). He is Anthony Rendon’s agent ($245 million). He is Mike Moustakas’ agent ($64 million).

That’s $878 million Boras collected for four clients. And he has more out there poised to sign. Unfortunately, he doesn’t represent sports writers.

—The New York Jets shooshed Le’Veon Bell away from the team hotel last Saturday and wouldn’t permit him to be near the team for its game Sunday because he had the flu.

So what did Bell do on Saturday night? He went bowling and risked infecting everybody in the bowling emporium. But he was proud. He bowled a 254.

And he did not pass out masks for the other bowlers Rumor has it he used a house ball, which now needs to be dumped into the East River.

UD throws in a clinker and a stinker and is out of the A-10 tournament

By HAL McCOY

The University of Dayton picked the worst possible time to play patty-cake basketball, permitting a muscular and physical Saint Louis University team to impose its will on the Flyers.

The result was one-and done,and not really so well done, for the Flyers, a 64-55 loser in their first game in the Atlantic 10 tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

That means the Flyers can put their dancing shoes back in the box — no trip to the NCAA tournament.

They will await a call from the NIT and it wouldn’t be a stunning shock if the NIT folks paired the Flyers against Wright State in a first round game.

The Flyers knew, or should have known, going into the game against Saint Louis that it was imperative to keep the Billikens about six kilometers away from the basket because they lead the A-10 in offensive rebounds. Mission unaccomplished.

Saint Louis swarmed the offensive boards and snagged 10 in the first half to none for the Flyers. And they led UD, 11-0, in first-half second chance points.

If somebody watched the game on TV with the sound off and if the TV folks didn’t put the score on the screen, it would have seemed as if Saint Louis led at the half by 20.

Amazingly, the Flyers led, 30-29. And at one point in the first half they led by six, 21-15.

Saint Louis coach Travis Ford implemented a 1-3-1 zone in the second half and it stymied an already stagnant UD offense.

Ryan Mikesell scored as many points as a statue on this frustrating night. Zero.

Josh Cunningham and Obi Toppin, both averaging 14, each scored seven. Toppin injured his knee on a drive to the basket with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half.

He didn’t play the remainder of the half, but limped his way gamely through the second half, but was totally ineffective.

Meanwhile, Saint Louis guard Tramaine Isabell played as if he was in his backyard playing by himself, just shooting the ball. He destroyed the Flyers with 24 points and hit several three-pointers from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The score was 36-all early in the second half when Saint Louis went on a 9-2 run to take a 45-38 lead. The Billikens made eight of nine shots in a short span to stretch their lead to nine, 52-43.

The Flyers, though, took themselves off the respirator with a 7-0 sprint on a driving lay-up by Jordan Davis, a three-pointer by Jalen Crutcher and a two-pointer by Crutcher.

At that point Saint Louis led by 52-50 and it looked as if the third-seeded Flyers might steal this one from the No. 6 seeded Billikens.

Saint Louis sailed away on a 10-1 run, with Javon Bess hitting two quick baskets at the end of the run for a 62-51 Billikens lead with two minutes left.

Midway through the second half, former Saint Louis star Anthony Bonner, the all-time leading scorer for the Billikens, was interviewed at courtside.

The man is now 50 but still plays in practices because the injury-riddled Billikens are short-handed and he probably said it best.

“That’s Saint Louis basketball — ugly and physical. We are imposing our will on UD,” he said.

After Saint Louis knocked off Richmond Thursday night to earn the right to play Dayton, Ford was asked about playing the Flyers and he said, “They are probably the most talented team in the league. And Obi Toppin might be the best player in the league. He is a first-round lottery pick in the NBA if he wants to do it.”

Toppin, though, was not himself in front of 50 family and friends. While Saint Louis scored easily under the basket, the Flyers and Toppin were kept away from the basket and played the game mostly passing the ball on the perimeter, unable to get it under to Toppin or Cunningham. Cunningham had only four shots.

And the Flyers were careless on offense, committing 16 turnovers that led to 22 Saint Louis points. They also were not active enough to get to the foul line, taking only six and making four. On the other side, Saint Louis, the worst free throw shooting team in the A-10 at 58 per cent, made 10 of 15.

While the Flyers were making only 7 of 22 three-points, the Billikens connected on 6 of 14, 4 for 7 by Isabell.

Supporting Isabell’s 24 was a 17-point effort by Jordan Goodwin and 15 by Javon Bess. D.J. Foreman had nine rebounds.

The Flyers were led by Crutcher with 18 and Jordan Davis had 12. Cunningham, Toppin and Mikesell each had five rebounds.

Saint Louis moves on to Saturday’s A-10 semifinals against Davidson while Dayton, 21-11, returns home to await a call from the NIT.