Dayton

Two teams going in opposite directions reversed fields, and from a St. Joseph's perspective it couldn't come at a more opportune time. Taking advantage of their shot-blocking skills and reviving their transition game, the Hawks defeated Dayton, 77-63, in an Atlantic Ten game Wednesday night at Hagan Arena. St. Joseph's (13-8 overall, 3-3 A-10) entered the game having lost three in a row and five of seven. Dayton had won two in a row and six of seven, and the Flyers (14-6, 4-2)

Brent Russ threw for 191 yards in the second half to help Union come from behind to defeat Ferrum, 37-21, in a Division III semifinal playoff game yesterday in Rocky Mount, Va. Union (13-0), of Schenectady, N.Y., scored four times in the fourth quarter to erase a 14-10 deficit. Russ concluded an 11-play, 61-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mark Callahan with 13 minutes, 18 seconds left to put the Dutchmen in the lead for the first time, 17-14. After a punt by Ferrum (11-2)

Coach Bill Foster was so relieved after Virginia Tech survived a late miss by Dayton, he said the magic word three times: "We were lucky, lucky, lucky. " "Dayton outplayed us in every aspect of the game," Foster said after a 63-62 victory by the 11th-ranked Hokies last night over the visiting Flyers. "They did a better job of getting the ball where they wanted. " Until the final shot. Coby Turner's double-pumping, driving jump shot just inside the foul line bounced off the rim with four seconds left and Virginia Tech rebounded.

A funeral service for Dayton center Chris Daniels is scheduled for Monday. Daniels, 22, died Thursday at Miami Valley Hospital after collapsing at his off-campus home. A cause of death had not been determined. Test results are expected in about two weeks. Montgomery County Coroner James Davis said there was no evidence Daniels died of a stroke, a ruptured vessel in the brain or any effects from a cortisone shot he had taken for his ankle. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 1 p.m. Monday at the Community of Holy Rosary and St. John's Church in Columbus.

DEVIN OLIVER scored a season-high 19 points and Dayton defeated visiting George Washington for the second time in 4 days, taking a 67-50 win last night in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The sixth-seeded Flyers (20-11), who posted their fifth straight 20-win season, will face third-seeded Xavier in Friday's quarterfinals in Atlantic City, N.J. Coming off a 75-59 win over the Colonials on March 3, Dayton jumped out to a 31-17 halftime lead. George Washington got within five, at 48-43 with 7:05 remaining, on a David Pellom layup.

Dan Thomas, Neshaminy High's all-American soccer player, said yesterday that he would attend the University of Dayton on a soccer scholarship. Thomas, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound sweeper, was The Inquirer's soccer player of the year for Bucks and Montgomery Counties last fall. He was one of only four defenders in the country named in December to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas all-American team. "I based my decision on Dayton's total package," said Thomas, who chose the school over Temple and New Hampshire.

Trying to remain among the leaders in the Atlantic Ten, Temple hosted a Dayton squad that wanted to make it an ugly game last night at the Liacouras Center. The Flyers succeeded on that count, but they lost the battle. With guard Ramone Moore scoring a game-high 13 points, and forward Lavoy Allen topping all rebounders with 18, Temple took a 49-41 victory. The 20th-ranked Owls limited Dayton to 26.3 percent shooting while making only 32.1 percent of their own shots. "We don't really mind winning this way," Moore said.

Instead of letting another hard-fought game slip away in the closing minutes, Temple reversed the trend last night. The Owls grabbed a key 63-51 victory over Dayton in an Atlantic Ten Conference women's basketball game at the Liacouras Center. "We're starting to come together," Temple senior guard Stacey Smalls said. "Hey, we had seven new people, seven new faces. It takes a while to know each other. " That lack of familiarity is one of the reasons that coach Dawn Staley's third season has been more arduous than her first two. Temple (9-14 overall, 5-7 Atlantic Ten)

Chris Taft scored 15 points to help fourth-ranked Pittsburgh rout St. John's, 71-51, last night, the Panthers' school-record 17th home win of the season. The Panthers (21-1, 7-1 Big East) have won 39 consecutive home games and are 33-0 at the Petersen Events Center. St. John's is 5-14 and 0-8. Dayton 62, Richmond 57 - Mark Jones made a 22-footer with nine seconds left to tie at the end of regulation, and Monty Scott made three free throws in the final 11 seconds of overtime to lift Dayton (18-3, 8-0 Atlantic Ten)

Two teams going in opposite directions reversed fields and, from St. Joseph's perspective it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Taking advantage of its shot-blocking skills and reviving its transition game, St. Joseph's defeated Dayton, 77-63, in an Atlantic Ten game Wednesday at Hagan Arena. St. Joseph's (13-8 overall, 3-3 in the Atlantic Ten) had lost three in a row and five of seven. Dayton had won two in a row and six of seven, and the Flyers (14-6, 4-2) entered the game as the first place team in the conference.

Temple's streak of eight consecutive women's NCAA Tournament bids ended tonight when the Owls did not receive an at-large bid to the 64-team field. Temple finished 21-9 in the regular season, losing to third-seeded Dayton, 66-63, in the Atlantic 10 semifinals. The Owls were riding a 13-game winning streak heading into the tournament to make themselves a potential contender for a bid. The Atlantic 10 had two teams make the field - Dayton (23-6) as the automatic qualifier and St. Bonaventure (29-3)

DEVIN OLIVER scored a season-high 19 points and Dayton defeated visiting George Washington for the second time in 4 days, taking a 67-50 win last night in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The sixth-seeded Flyers (20-11), who posted their fifth straight 20-win season, will face third-seeded Xavier in Friday's quarterfinals in Atlantic City, N.J. Coming off a 75-59 win over the Colonials on March 3, Dayton jumped out to a 31-17 halftime lead. George Washington got within five, at 48-43 with 7:05 remaining, on a David Pellom layup.

Chaz Williams scored 21 points and Raphiael Putney and Javorn Farrell added 20 apiece as Massachusetts rallied to defeat Duquesne, 92-83, Tuesday night in Amherst, Mass., in the first round of the Atlantic Ten Conference tournament. The eighth-seeded Minutemen (21-10) will face No. 21 Temple, the top seed, in Friday's quarterfinals in Atlantic City. There were eight ties and 14 lead changes, with UMass trailing by 78-73 with 6 minutes, 3 seconds left. Terrell Vinson then hit a three-pointer, Farrell made a layup and Williams hit four straight free throws for a 82-78 Minutemen lead with 3:37 to go. After Sean Johnson's three-pointer cut the deficit to one, Williams made a layup and UMass hit 8 of 10 free throws to avenge an 80-69 loss to Duquesne on Jan. 18. The Minutemen shot 50.8 percent from the field (30 of 59)

THE DAYTON WOMEN exploded out of the gates yesterday to win their first-ever Atlantic 10 Tournament championship at Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena. The third-seeded Flyers survived a furious rally from top seed St. Bonaventure to win, 56-53, dealing the 16th-ranked Bonnies their first loss in the conference. Dayton used a swarming defense to hold the Bonnies under 30 percent from the field in the first half. On offense, the Flyers couldn't miss early on, building leads of 15-3 and 27-5.

Justine Raterman scored 13 points and the Dayton women rebounded after blowing a 22-point lead to beat No. 16 St. Bonaventure, 56-53, on Monday at St. Joseph's Hagan Arena to win the Atlantic Ten tournament championship and clinch a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Flyers (23-6) dominated early and didn't trail until the final minutes. The Bonnies (29-3) had their 18-game winning streak snapped and must wait for an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. Notre Dame 73, West Virginia 45 - Natalie Novosel had 18 points to lift the third-ranked Irish (30-2)

The postseason fate of the Temple and St. Joseph's women's basketball teams is in the hands of the NCAA tournament selection committee. Both the Owls and the Hawks lost on Sunday in the semifinals of the Atlantic Ten Conference tournament at St. Joseph's Hagan Arena, eliminating any chance of either team capturing the conference's automatic bid. The second-seeded Owls lost a nail-biter, 66-63, to third-seeded Dayton, which ended a 13-game...

1. Hard to figure It's cool that the Atlantic Ten is such a well-balanced league this season (and that La Salle enters the weekend alone in first place), but the fact that its teams are beating up on each other might not bode well when NCAA invitations are handed out. Dayton's loss the other night to Duquesne won't help the Flyers' bubble status once we get to March. Ditto with Massachusetts' following its loss at Rhode Island. Temple looks to be in no matter what happens in the tournament, but mock brackets have Dayton, Xavier and St. Louis all with double-digit seeds, leaving little margin for error.

THE CRAZIES at Hagan Arena knew something special was happening. It started with a layup. Then there was a prayer to beat the shot clock. A windmill dunk here, a layup there. By the time Ronald Roberts was finished, he had scored the final 15 points over the game's last 5 minutes and Saint Joseph's walked away with a much-needed 77-63 win over Atlantic 10 leader Dayton. Much to the delight of his biggest fan, Roberts even made his foul shots. "Phenomenal," said teammate Langston Galloway.

Two teams going in opposite directions reversed fields and, from St. Joseph's perspective it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Taking advantage of its shot-blocking skills and reviving its transition game, St. Joseph's defeated Dayton, 77-63, in an Atlantic Ten game Wednesday at Hagan Arena. St. Joseph's (13-8 overall, 3-3 in the Atlantic Ten) had lost three in a row and five of seven. Dayton had won two in a row and six of seven, and the Flyers (14-6, 4-2) entered the game as the first place team in the conference.

Two teams going in opposite directions reversed fields, and from a St. Joseph's perspective it couldn't come at a more opportune time. Taking advantage of their shot-blocking skills and reviving their transition game, the Hawks defeated Dayton, 77-63, in an Atlantic Ten game Wednesday night at Hagan Arena. St. Joseph's (13-8 overall, 3-3 A-10) entered the game having lost three in a row and five of seven. Dayton had won two in a row and six of seven, and the Flyers (14-6, 4-2)