| As Nate Santos and Javon Bennett talked at a postgame press conference at TD Arena, Dayton Flyers fans watching through the windows on the street outside started cheering and pounding on the glass. The players took a moment to acknowledge them before continuing to talk about the 70-67 victory against LSU. Dayton players, coaches, fans — everyone — experienced a whirlwind of emotions in the first round of the Charleston Classic. The Flyer Faithful willed the team to a 15-point comeback in the second half. I noticed one fan in particular, Ross Bunn, continuing to cheer even at the team’s lowest point early in the second half when the Flyers were starting to chip away at the lead but not making much progress. I’ve seen Dayton overcome deficits before but maybe not as dramatically in such a big game. In 2018, the Flyers ended the second half with a 16-1 run to force overtime at Virginia Commonwealth but lost 88-84. In 2019, Dayton faced a 22-point first-half deficit and a 17-point second-half deficit but won 72-66 at George Washington. As far as comebacks in a non-conference game go, this was as good as it gets for Dayton. • It was Dayton’s first victory in a November tournament since it beat Miami, Kansas and Belmont at the ESPN Events Invitational in 2021. It lost all three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis last season. * It was Dayton’s first first-round victory in the Charleston Classic. It lost to Colorado in the first round in 2012 and to Hofstra in the first round in 2017. * LSU ranks 68th in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. Dayton was 0-5 against top-100 teams in non-conference play last season. It’s hard to get an exact count of how many Dayton fans made the trip to Charleston, but the few banging on the glass were part of a crowd of at least 1,000. They made their presence felt before, during and after the game. “The fans and our guys just believed and stayed the course,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “It’s a great win.” Flyers face a coaching legend Friday Credit: David Jablonski Dayton plays St. John’s, led by college basketball’s winningest active coach, Rick Pitino, at 2 p.m. Friday in the Charleston Classic semifinals. Dayton will then play Houston or Utah on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. if it’s the third-place game or 8:30 p.m. if it’s the championship game. St. John’s also has a strong fan presence here. One fan held up a sign reading “Pitino’s Posse” behind the bench Thursday. The Flyers and Red Storm have played 10 times but not since Jan. 5, 1974, when Dayton won 82-58 at UD Arena. Mike Sylvester led the Flyers with 24 points. A season earlier, No. 9 St. John’s beat Dayton 98-83 at Alumni Hall in New York. St. John’s advanced to the semifinals with a 53-52 victory against North Texas on Thursday. Daniss Jenkins led St. John’s with 17 points. Joel Soriano had 12 points and 11 rebounds. St. John’s shot 26.1% (6 of 23) from 3-point range. It twice blew 11-point leads in the second half and trailed 52-51 when Soriano made the game-tying and go-ahead free throws with 1:11 to play. Dayton has twice faced a Pitino-coached team. On Nov. 24, 2006, Dayton beat Pitino and Louisville 68-64 at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati. On Dec. 8, 2007, Dayton beat No. 14 Louisville 70-65 at Freedom Hall. Credit: David Jablonski UD Arena book now on sale at the arena My long journey with my UD Arena book — “The Epicenter of College Basketball: A History of UD Arena” — has reached a new stage: selling it. Bob Post, of Post Printing, delivered 1,500 copies of the book to my house on Monday. He’s the nephew of Reds Hall of Famer Wally Post and the cousin of Ryan Mikesell’s mom Lisa. He also used to deliver UD men’s basketball media guides to campus. it was all very fitting — and very exciting when his van arrived and we unloaded the dozens of boxes, each with 36 copies. That same day, I made sure UD Arena director Scott DeBolt got the very first copy. That was also very fitting. Then on Tuesday, I sold the first copies to Kurt and Rita Rinehart, two of the biggest UD fans I know. They met me in the UD Arena parking lot. Also very fitting. I brought 40-something copies of the book to Charleston to sell to fans here. Every one I’ve sold, I’ve autographed. If you’re reading this and want a book while you’re in Charleston, send me an email ([email protected]) and we’ll meet up. The books are now for sale at UD Arena, the UD bookstore and Flyer Spirit on Brown Street. The small bookstore near my home in Bexley, Gramercy Books, even took two copies and put them on the Local Authors shelf. Starting Sunday, you can purchase the books at UDArenaBook.com. The website will be active Sunday. I will be shipping each copy myself. That’s why I didn’t want to launch the website while I’m in Charleston. I thought I would fall behind in fulfilling the orders. The Dayton Daily News allowed me to publish an excerpt from the book. It is now online and will be in print in our special Flyer Connection section Sunday. I gave Hal McCoy, who’s here covering the Flyers for Press Pros Magazine, a copy of the book to thank him for writing a testimonial that appears on the back cover. “As a guy who covered the Flyers in the late 1960s,” McCoy wrote, “the days of Don Donoher and Don May, and who covers them now for a web-site, I am a devout working member of the Flyer Faithful. And that makes talented writer Dave Jablonski’s deep dive into the history of UD Arena a must read for me and for all UD fans. It is a delightful, well-documented and poignantly written trip down UD Arena’s Memory Lane, which is a broad and long thoroughfare.” I owe Tom Archdeacon and Larry Hansgen books as well. They also wrote testimonials for my book. Fast Break Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans: 🏀 Former Dayton star Obi Toppin delivered one of the best performances of his career with 27 points Tuesday for the Indiana Pacers. 🏀 On the same night Toppin scored 27, former Dayton forward Toumani Camara made his first NBA start for the Portland Trail Blazers. What do you want to know about the Flyers? I want to hear from you. Reach out to me directly at [email protected] with your questions and feedback on the team or this newsletter. Also be sure to follow our Flyer Nation Facebook page for the latest news on the team. I’ll have updates, photos and videos on Twitter, as well. | 