Dayton Flyers Cinderella Run Continues

Dayton advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 30 years with an 82-72 victory over Stanford on Thursday night in the NCAA South Regional semifinals at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

The 11th-seeded Flyers advance to play the winner of Thursday’s late game between top-seeded Florida Gatorrs and fourth-seeded UCLA Bruins for a spot in

Mar 27, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; Dayton Flyers forward/center Devon Scott (40) and Scoochie Smith (11) celebrate after defeating the Stanford Cardinal 82-72 in the semifinals of the south regional of the 2014 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship tournament at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

the Final Four.
Cincinnati, Ohio native Guard Jordan Sibert led Dayton with 18 points, as he shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range. Forward Kendall Pollard scored 12 points off the bench for the Flyers, forward Devin Oliver had 12 points and seven rebounds, and center Matt Kavanaugh finished with 10 points.

Stanford pulled within 47-43 with 15:53  as the Cardinal made a 7-0 run to cut into the Flyers’ lead. However, that was close as Stanford could get, and Dayton’s advantage never dropped below 10 points in the last five minutes of the game.

Dayton shot 48.3 percent (28-for-58), which was surprising, because the wins against Ohio State and Syracuse, they managed to score 60 and 55 points respectively.

Dayton led 42-32 at halftime, compiling 13 assists and four steals while committing just two turnovers through the first 20 minutes.
An 8-0 run allowed the Flyers to stretch the lead to 34-23.

The Flyers led by as many as 13 points in the half, as a 3-pointer from guard Jordan Sibert made the score 42-29. Sibert and Pollard each had eight first-half points for Dayton.

The Flyers had a 17-16 edge in rebounds at halftime, and Dayton scored the only nine fast-break points of the half.

As a Cincinnati Bearcat student and fan, I’m happy for Dayton, and wil be rooting them on all the way to Dallas, where the final four is this year, if they win the elite eight game on Saturday.