AYTON, Ohio - The 3-point shot arched toward the basket, apparently on
target to break the hearts of a University of Massachusetts men's basketball
team that needed a win about as much as a team can.
AYTON, Ohio - The 3-point shot arched toward the basket, apparently on
target to break the hearts of a University of Massachusetts men's basketball
team that needed a win about as much as a team can.
 UMass came out of historically-tough Dayton with a W. |
"We just had to get this victory," said center Lari Ketner, who did his share with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists. "Now we go to Texas (for Sunday's game) on national TV. But for us, it's got to be just one game at a time."
The winning basket last night came from Monty Mack, whose short jumper in the lane broke a 57-57 tie with 11 seconds left in overtime. Stanley missed a short jumper, and the ball was tied up with possession to Dayton and seven-tenths of a second left.
On the final 3-point try, Stanley didn't miss by much, and UMass - which had seemed devastated after Tuesday's home loss to Fordham - proved it hasn't thrown in the towel on this season yet. And that's good news as the Minutemen (9-10, 5-3 Atlantic 10) head to Texas for Sunday's final non-conference game of the season.
Mack spent all night battling Stanley in a dramatic 1-on-1 showdown. Stanley led all scorers with 18 points, but Mack's 15 included the biggest basket of all.
"I wanted to take that shot," Mack said. "I think everybody who plays the game feels that way."
One player who wanted the ball last night was Ketner, whose jumper from the right corner gave UMass a 57-55 lead with 52 seconds left in overtime. Stanley tied it 12 seconds later, setting the stage for Mack.
"It was a good shot by Monty, and he's been making those all year," said forward Chris Kirkland, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half as UMass erased a 25-19 halftime deficit.
Ketner, who scored 33 points against Dayton last year, battled with Flyers' center Mark Ashman, who like Ketner is 6-foot-10 but at 230 pounds, is 55 pounds lighter than the UMass senior.
"I thought Lari not only played great on offense but also defensively, because Ashman is one of the better offensive centers we've faced," UMass coach Bruiser Flint said. "But we talked at practice about how Lari had to want the ball. If he got it, he should shoot it and if he missed, we'd go get it."
Ashman had 13 points and Coby Turner 10 for Dayton, which fell to 8-10, 3-5 after losing before 11,639 home fans. The game featured nine ties and 10 lead changes after halftime, and Flint was elated with the outcome, though he said Mack's shot, by necessity, came a little sooner than was planned.
"We wanted (point guard) Charlton Clarke to turn the corner and get it to Monty," Flint said. "We also wanted to wait until under 10 seconds to shoot it, but Charlton fell down."
Ketner had eight first-half points, but 12 UMass turnovers before halftime helped Dayton build a 25-15 lead. But Kirkland soared from near the foul line and dunked just before halftime, and UMass launched a 14-0 run - including the first 10 points of the second half - to take a 29-25 lead.
UMass committed only four turnovers in the second half and overtime, but Dayton led 53-49 with two minutes left. Mack's basket and two Ketner free throws with 45 seconds left tied it 53-53, but Dayton had a chance to win in regulation when Turner's jumper was deflected out of bounds by Mike Babul with 9.8 seconds left.
After a referees' consultation, the Flyers were ruled to have a fraction of a second left before the shot clock ran out. They couldn't get off a shot, but UMass guard Jonathan DePina couldn't find an open man on the next possession as regulation time expired.
AYTON, Ohio - Everybody agreed it was a victory they had to have.
Nobody associated with University of Massachusetts men's basketball wanted to
say the season would crumble with another loss, but the fear of a season in
freefall couldn't entirely be denied, either.
"I think this showed we could bounce back," said junior guard Monty Mack, whose basket with 11 seconds left in overtime provided the winning points in a 59-57 win over Dayton at UD Arena. "We didn't come apart. Everybody stayed together."
UMass coach Bruiser Flint was about as happy after a victory as he's been all year, knowing the agony of Tuesday's 66-60 home loss to Fordham could be replaced by more pleasant thoughts.
"What really bothered me was that we'd been playing better before Fordham, and then we didn't come to play," he said, acknowledging that the loss was one of the most disappointing of his three-year career. "Then I got a technical at the end, and then we've got to come here, when Dayton hardly ever loses."
Mack said he didn't think the season would have collapsed had UMass lost. "I think we could have come back," he insisted, "but I'm still glad we won."
HEARTSTOPPING:
When Tony Stanley's shot hit the rim at the buzzer and went out, UMass celebrated its second win in which an opponent's 3-pointer - which would have meant defeat - barely missed at the final horn. Fordham's Jason Harris just missed in a 67-65 UMass win Jan. 7.
Jack Leaman's on-air comment at last night's final buzzer summed it up. "Thank God," the UMass color man said as Stanley's shot bounced out.
DEJA VU:
Flint won an overtime game at Dayton once before, as a St. Joseph's senior guard during the 1986-87 season when he hit the winning shot.
"It was the first time St. Joseph's was on ESPN," Flint said of the 78-75 win. "I'd torn a calf muscle and was out about 10 days and wasn't supposed to play. But I wound up playing the whole game."
Last night was UMass' first win ever at Dayton, albeit in only its second try.
COMMENTS:
Dayton coach Oliver Purnell praised Mack, saying the UMass guard has "the quickest release in college basketball." Flint, a Philadelphia native, was equally flattering of Stanley, saying he'd wished he'd known the Dayton guard had once lived in Philly. "He might have been in a UMass uniform - I don't like guys from the neighborhood to get away," Flint said.
BY THE NUMBERS:
UMass is 3-5 in overtime games under Flint . . . Lari Ketner moved past Tyrone Weeks and tied Tim Edwards (1963-67) for 30th place on the UMass career scoring list. Ketner's 16 points give him 1,022. Weeks had 1,013 . . . With five assists, Charlton Clarke moved past Al Skinner (324-3230) and into eighth all-time at UMass . . . Mack's 55 3-pointers this season move in into a tie with Derek Kellogg (1994-95) for 10th place on the all-time school single-season list . . . Dayton was 21-4 in Atlantic 10 games at UD Arena until last night.
season of near-misses took one more wrong
turn for the University of Dayton Flyers
Thursday night.
Coach Oliver Purnell's team put itself in position to break away from Massachusetts several times but couldn't deliver the knockout punch. Consequently, the Minutemen walked out of UD Arena with a 59-57 victory in overtime.
Monty Mack drove the lane for the winning basket with 11 seconds remaining in the five-minute extra period, and Dayton's Tony Stanley missed two hurried shots in the last two seconds as the Flyers lost their second home game in succession.
"We had plenty of opportunities," UD center Mark Ashman said. "We just couldn't put them away when we had the chance. We played hard enough to win. We have to play smarter and take care of the ball."
The Flyers made only 33 percent of their shots as Stanley was 7 for 20, Ashman was 6 for 18 and Coby Turner was 3 for 12 while scoring 18, 13 and 10 points.
"I got great looks," said Ashman, who was dueling Lari Ketner of Massachusetts. "He didn't guard me from 15 feet. I just couldn't hit 'em."
Massachusetts, which had been beaten at home by Fordham Tuesday, wasn't looking forward to this trip with games against Dayton and Texas. "This is probably the toughest place in the league to play," said UMass coach James "Bruiser" Flint, whose costly technical sealed the Fordham loss. "This could have been a disastrous trip."
The Flyers, unbeaten at home in eight Atlantic 10 games last season, had won 14 in succession before losing in overtime to Virginia Tech eight days ago. But they are having difficulty making key plays this season. Overall, they are just 7-4 in front of the Flyer Faithful, 8-10 overall and 3-5 in the league.
Against UMass, they made only 8 of 15 free throws. Without three misses at the line in the overtime, they might have won. They turned the ball over at critical times.
With the score tied at 53, they took possession and called a timeout with 39 seconds left in regulation time and 30 seconds on the shot clock. They wanted to get the ball to Ashman in the paint but were unable.
They dribbled and made nine passes before Turner had the ball with five seconds left in an awkward position on the left side outside the 3-point arc. His path to the basket blocked, Turner hoisted a desperation 3-point shot that was partially blocked and went out of bounds without touching the rim.
UD got the ball out of bounds with less than a second left on the shot clock and couldn't avoid the violation. A good defensive job by Edwin Young on UMass point guard Jonathan DePina prevented the Minutemen from getting off a last shot.
UD started the OT with a questionable shot, a 3-pointer by Stanley, and never took control. UMass outscored Dayton, 6-4, as the Flyers made only one basket, missed 3 of 5 free throws and turned the ball over once.
After Mack's basket put UMass up, 59-57, Stanley drove to the basket and missed. Given a last-second opportunity for a game-winning trey from the corner, he missed again.
AYTON, OHIO - With the score tied 57-57 with 10.1 seconds left
in the five-minute overtime period, Monty Mack faked a shot from the perimeter, drove into the
lane and pulled up for a jumper.
The ball bounced from the left side of the rim to the back of it before dropping through the hoop to give the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team a 59-57 lead.
Dayton rushed the ball up the floor. Tony Stanley drove in and pulled up for a potential game-tying jumper, but it bounced off the rim and Lari Ketner grabbed the rebound with two seconds left.
Ted Fitz tied up Ketner to force the held ball with the possession arrow favoring the Flyers with .7 seconds left. Taking the inbounds pass, Stanley played for the win, launching a 3-pointer from the corner, but it was short. That gave the Minutemen a 59-57 win Thursday night at University of Dayton Arena.
"This was a big win," Ketner said. "Especially after the (66-60) loss to Fordham the other day. We had 10 games left before this game that we had to go out and win. The season is not over with. We're capable of making a run. We just have to stay focused. If we're focused, we win these types of games."
UMass improved to 9-10 (5-3 in the Atlantic 10) and will take on Texas in Austin Sunday. The Flyers fell to 8-10 (3-5, A-10).
The Minutemen had a chance to win the game in regulation. After going the length of the court with the score tied 53-53 with eight seconds left, Jonathan DePina couldn't get a shot off as the buzzer expired.
Stanley drew first blood in overtime. After inducing Ketner's fourth foul, he made one of two free throws to put Dayton ahead, 54-53. After Ketner missed the front end of a one-and-one, Coby Turner made one of two free throws to extend the Flyers' margin to 55-53 with 2:08 left.
On a pass from Ketner, Mack buried a jumper from just inside the 3-point line to tie the game. After a Turner 3-point attempt went halfway through the hoop before popping out, UMass grabbed the rebound and called timeout.
Ketner gave UMass a 57-55 lead with 51.4 seconds left on a 12-foot baseline jumper. Eleven seconds later, Stanley tied the game driving to the hoop, and was fouled by Ajmal Basit on the way up. Stanley missed the free throw, however, to keep the game tied, 57-57.
After crossing halfcourt, UMass called timeout to set up its final play. The design was to hold the ball until there were fewer than 10 seconds left, then have Charlton Clarke drive to the basket and either shoot or kick the ball out to Mack.
When Clarke turned the corner into the paint, he slipped a little, but was able to dish it back to Mack, who knocked down the clincher.
"If you're a player, you want to take shots like that," Mack said. "I just thank God the shot went in. This was a big win. It was the first tough game in overtime that we came out with a win."
"It was a good shot by Monty," said UMass junior forward Chris Kirkland. "He's been making them all year. I just wanted to get back on defense and get a stop."
Mack finished with 15 points, 12 of them after intermission. Lari Ketner led UMass with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Kirkland added 13 points and 8 boards. Stanley had 18 points to lead Dayton.
The Minutemen won despite a poor performance in the first half. They led, 6-4, with 5:26 gone in the game, but Stanley scored the first seven points in a 9-0 run that put the hosts ahead, 13-6. While UMass struggled with turnovers, the Flyers extended that lead to 23-13 with 4:46 left.
After Ketner and Stanley traded hoops, the Minutemen grabbed momentum. Keeping Dayton scoreless for the final 3:19 of the first half and the opening 5:21 of the second half, UMass went on a 14-0 run to take a 29-25 lead.
"We talked about taking care of the ball," Flint said. "It just comes down to rebounding the ball and taking care of it. We did a much better job of that in the second half."
The lead changed hands nine times in the second half until Ketner made both ends of a one-and-one with 44.9 seconds left to tie the game, 53-53, and send it to overtime.
AYTON, OHIO - In a season that has been an offensive struggle for
University of Massachusetts senior center Lari Ketner, having eight points already in the bank at
halfime could be considered a good start.
But at intermission he only had three rebounds and his difficulty passing out of double-teams had led to two turnovers. With UMass trailing 25-19, a repeat performance in the second half might have translated into the third consecutive Minutemen loss.
Ketner elevated his game in the second half, however, and took the Minutemen with him. After trailing by 10 late in the first half at 25-15, UMass strung together a 14-0 run that spanned the halves. In that stretch, Ketner had four points, two blocked shots and was active on the boards.
He continued the pace throughout the remainder of the game. He made both ends of a one-and-one with 44.9 seconds left in the game to tie it and force the extra session.
"He played great," UMass coach Bruiser Flint said. "Not only on offense, but he did a great job on (Mark) Ashman on defense. Ashman is one of the best offensive big men we've played all year."
Ketner's totals after intermission were eight points, eight boards, and two blocks. He finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four swats. He also passed well out of the double-team, with three assists and no turnovers in the second half, leading to easy baskets for Chris Kirkland and Monty Mack.
"He was more patient," Flint said. "He took his time and waited to see whether the guy was open in the second half."
"I just wanted to come out, rebound and focus on who was open in the passing lane," Ketner said. "If they didn't double I was able to go one-on-one."
Flint hopes Ketner continues this level of play.
"Lari just has to play like he did tonight, which was aggressive," Flint said. "It doesn't matter who he plays against if he does that. He fought for position. He shot balls when he was supposed to shoot them. That's all."
"Ketner had a nice game tonight," said Dayton coach Oliver Purnell. "He hurt us as much as anyone."
The fact that his collegiate career could be winding down was motivation for Ketner.
"We had 10 games left before the league tournament starts," Ketner said. "Me and Charlton (Clarke) just realized that this is our last run. We needed this one real bad. We just wanted to come out and get it."
Ketner's 16 points gave him 1,022 for his career, a total that pushed him past ex-teammate Tyrone Weeks and tied him with Tim Edwards for 30th place on the UMass career scoring list. He needs 11 points to match No. 29 Derick Claiborne.
* * *
The win was the University of Massachusetts Minutemen's first at University of Dayton arena, an impressive feat considering that the Flyers had won 21 of 25 Atlantic 10 games entering the contest since joining the A-10 for the 1995-96 season.
But while it was the Minutemen's best performance in the building, their coach topped it at the arena when he was a player.
St. Joseph's had never played a regular-season game on ESPN prior to Dec. 20, 1986, when the Hawks, led by Flint, their senior point guard, traveled to Dayton.
"I got one here as a player," Flint said. "In overtime and I made the (game-winning) shot. I crossed over, spun and took a little leaner in the lane and ran out the same tunnel that we ran out today."
Flint, who is fond of recalling his playing days, said Monty Mack's game-winner last night wasn't as good as his was 12 years ago.
Flint, who stood up from the interview table to re-enact his play, said, "I was out for like 10 days before the game because I had torn a calf muscle. That was my first game back and I wasn't supposed to play that much, but I played the entire game, into overtime."
* * *
The UMass assistant coaches had a specific assignment last night added to their regular duties - keep Flint in the coaches' box.
Flint was called for a technical foul for leaving it Tuesday night against Fordham, a call that capped a bad night for UMass that resulted in a 66-60 loss.
"My assistants made sure," Flint said. "They kept pulling me back."
* * *
Dayton's Tony Stanley led all scorers with 18 points, but according to Flint, had he learned about Stanley's roots earlier, he might have had Stanley on his team instead of being victimized by him.
"I found out today that Tony Stanley grew up like three blocks from where I grew up in Philadelphia," Flint said. "It was two of his cousins that I used to play ball with growing up. I was upset because they never let me know (about him) or he might have been in a UMass uniform. But he moved away (to Virginia) after his freshman year. I don't let too many kids get out of my neighborhood."
| Massachusetts Minutemen | 59 | OT |
| Dayton Flyers | 57 | |
| at Dayton | ||
MASSACHUSETTS (59)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Kirkland 40 6-10 1-1 3-8 1 2 13
Babul 34 0-0 1-2 1-4 1 5 1
Ketner 37 7-16 2-3 1-11 3 4 16
Clarke 42 0-5 3-4 0-5 5 1 3
M Mack 43 6-16 0-0 1-4 2 2 15
Depina 10 0-0 2-2 1-1 2 2 2
Rhymer 5 3-3 0-0 1-1 0 1 6
Basit 14 0-1 3-4 1-4 0 4 3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 225 22-51 12-16 9-38 14 21 59
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.431, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
3-11, .273 (Clarke 0-1, M Mack 3-10). Team
rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 9 (Ketner 4, M Mack
2, Kirkland, Babul, Rhymer). Turnovers: 16
(Clarke 6, Depina 3, Babul 2, Ketner 2, M Mack 2,
Rhymer). Steals: 3 (Kirkland 2, Babul).
DAYTON (57)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Turner 38 3-12 1-2 1-6 0 3 10
Fitz 18 0-0 0-0 3-5 1 0 0
M Ashman 37 6-18 1-2 3-9 0 3 13
Stanley 41 7-20 3-6 5-7 1 0 18
Young 31 2-5 2-2 0-2 3 2 8
Doliboa 24 1-4 0-0 1-3 0 1 3
Morris 18 0-1 0-0 0-0 7 2 0
Holland 10 2-3 1-3 2-2 0 1 5
Bamigbola 8 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 225 21-64 8-15 15-36 12 14 57
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.328, FT-.533. 3-Point Goals:
7-21, .333 (Turner 3-6, M Ashman 0-1, Stanley
1-7, Young 2-4, Doliboa 1-3). Team rebounds: 5.
Blocked shots: 4 (M Ashman 3, Stanley).
Turnovers: 14 (Young 4, Morris 2, Stanley 2,
Turner 2, Bamigbola, Holland). Steals: 9 (Stanley
4, Young 2, Doliboa, Morris, Turner).
_______________________________________
Massachusetts 19 34 6 - 59
Dayton 25 28 4 - 57
_______________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 11,639. Officials:
Larry Rose, Bryan Kersey, Jody Silvester.
