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Saturday, November 14, 2009
Creighton guard compliments Flyers
P’Allen Stinnett, an All-Missouri Valley Conference guard, gave Dayton its due after Creighton dropped a 90-80 decision here.
“They’re a good ball club,” he said. “They have a lot of athletic guys. You can tell they’ve been together quite a bit.”
The Flyers may have been able to vanquish the Bluejays, who were playing without leading rebounder Justin Carter (knee) and two ailing frontcourt subs, but it wasn’t easy. A sell-out crowd of 13,435 was treated to an entertaining game between two solid teams.
“There’s no question Creighton will challenge for the Missouri Valley Conference and play in the NCAA tournament this year — because of the way they always progress, and they’ll get those guys back,” UD coach Brian Gregory said.
The Flyers, though, showed they’ve made strides since last season. Chris Johnson (18 points and 15 rebounds) looks like he’s poised to become a force in the Atlantic 10, and Chris Wright (25 points, two off his career high) has kicked his game up a notch with a more accurate outside stroke. He was 9-of-12 from the field and made both of his 3-point attempts.
UD’s bench is just as deep as last year, too. In addition to Johnson’s output, Paul Williams had nine points and no turnovers in 20 minutes, Luke Fabrizius knocked down three treys, and Josh Benson scored his first career bucket.
“Our bench is big, and it helps us win games,” Wright said.
The Flyers looked worthy of their Top-25 ranking, but they’ll play three quality opponents in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic, and they won’t be able to feed off a boisterous throng like they did against the Bluejays.
“The crowd was unbelievable,” Gregory said. “I’d like to see crowds like that every single game because you could feel the buzz.”
