Dayton's first game as a ranked team was certainly an effective one. Akron, perhaps inspired by their mascot's domination of the nation's other costumed humans, pushed them to the limit and then some in an 83-81, double OT win. They did it by attacking Dayton's superlative Brian Roberts on both ends in the first half. Roberts scored just three points, picked up two quick fouls and the Zips went to the locker room with a six point lead. Their strong defensive effort was keyed by Nate Linhart, who posted three blocks, three steals and 10 rebounds to go with his nine points. Akron had eight steals and seven blocks in total and kept the Flyers from getting into a rhythm early.
They finally did by working the ball inside. With Roberts shut down, they turned to Kurt Huelsman and Jimmie Binnie. Huelsman, tough to guard at 6'10", had 18 and Binnie added a career-high 14. Roberts had 14 after the half to aid the effort and then two different players carried them through the overtimes.
Marcus Johnson scored six of the team's eight points in the first extra session and Jeremiah Wood, who led Akron with 21, missed at the end to force the game to double overtime. Those five minutes belonged to London Warren. He had six points and made a free throw to put the Flyers up three with four seconds to play.
The win flashed Dayton's depth and resiliency in ways we haven't seen before. Akron isn't Pittsburgh but they were 10-2 and shut down the Flyers' leading scorer. They didn't have any red letter wins and that created some doubt about their true level but the Zips showed, defensively at least, they are ready for the MAC wars. Interior play will bedevil them but their effort and intensity are first-rate. But Dayton adapted, as they'll have to as more teams focus on Roberts, and got points from a variety of sources. They'll need to adjust from underdog to favorite but they play with so much confidence that it shouldn't be a big problem.
