Nov. 25, 2003
LAHAINA, Hawaii - Things are going well early for Dayton and first-year coach Brian Gregory.
Ramod Marshall scored 17 points, including three free throws with 1:50 left that broke the game's final tie, and the Flyers beat San Diego State 76-71 Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.
"We're playing in this tournament to get a feel for the team. It's important for me to learn about these guys and them about each other," said Gregory, a former assistant to Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
The Flyers (3-0) will play Hawaii, which beat Chaminade 68-54 in the other semifinal, in Wednesday night's championship game. It will be Dayton's best finish in the eight-team tournament, topping the third place it took in 2000.
"The players are excited but now we face 24 hours of hard work," Gregory said. "We're going to have to get ready in a short period of time."
Marshall was fouled by Wesley Stokes as he attempted a 3-pointer with the score tied at 64 in a game in which neither team led by more than six points.
The senior guard made all three free throws to give the Flyers the lead for good.
San Diego State (2-1) was within 71-68 with 23 seconds left on a basket by Aerick Sanders, but Dayton went 5-for-6 from the free throw line the rest of the way to offset a last-second 3-pointer by Stokes.
"The last six minutes we did everything we had to to win the game," Gregory said. "They made every big play. When things needed to be done we got them done and I'm pleased with that."
Warren Williams had 15 points for Dayton, 11 in the first half on 4-for-4 shooting including three 3s, and Keith Waleskowski had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Sanders had 21 points and 18 rebounds, both career highs, for the Aztecs, who were just 4-for-22 from 3-point range after connecting on 13 treys opening-round win over Ohio State.
"If not for Aerick it could have been a rout," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "I think we took OK shots but we took too many of them. We have to learn that if we miss one or two of them we have to regroup."
Freshman Brandon Heath and Stokes, who combined for 50 points in the first round, had 13 and 10, respectively, against Dayton. Heath was 5-for-6 in the first game and Stokes was 4-for-6, a far cry from their 0-for-5 and 1-for-7 efforts on Tuesday.
"I wasn't very pleased with our defense," Gregory said looking at a box score. "But when I think of what those guards did to Ohio State and I see what we did tonight that's pretty good. I'm pleased with our defense."
The Flyers were 10-for-25 from beyond the arc with Williams going 4-for-6 and Marshall 3-for-7.
"We got into the motion of the game and started to get more comfortable," Williams said.
Fisher seemed confident his backcourt would rebound from the rough outing.
"I think Wesley may have pressed a little bit but he's smart and will come back to play many important games for us," Fisher said of the transfer from Missouri. "He's crestfallen right now but I know he will learn from this and he has to for us to be successful."
By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer