News Summary

PHILADELPHIA — Dayton star Brian Roberts misfired on his first nine field-goal attempts and spent most of the day looking as if he were trying to fit the ball into a shot glass. But Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli wasn't ready to praise his defense for containing the normally reliable guard.

In fact, Martelli didn't think his team deserved to take bows Sunday for a 71-65 victory over the Flyers before 3,101 fans, most of whom seemed preoccupied with their Super Bowl plans.

"I thought what I saw was a result of them being 0-7 on the road. They didn't look confident, and that was a flat atmosphere. I think it was their lack of confidence on the road more than anything we did," Martelli said.

The Flyers fell to 0-8 on the road and are 2-16 over the last two seasons, but coach Brian Gregory disagreed vociferously with Martelli's assessment.

"There's not a confidence factor," he said. "That's not an issue. You can't let a team shoot 53 percent from the field and win on the road. That has to do more with toughness than confidence."

The Flyers (14-8, 4-5) couldn't handle the Hawks' frontline of 6-foot-10 Pat Calathes (20 points), 6-9 Ahmad Nivins (17) and 6-8 Rob Ferguson (15). But to Martelli, UD looked whipped before the tipoff.

"Whether it was their body language or their eyes — I'm big on reading eyes — I didn't think either team really had much juice."

After trailing by as many as 12 in the second half, the Flyers closed to 56-52 on a 3-pointer by Andres Sandoval with 5:30 to go. The Hawks (13-9, 5-4), playing before Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, hiked their lead to 9 again, but couldn't protect it.

A 3-pointer and then two free throws by Roberts brought UD to within four with 2:41 to go. But the Hawks' Calathes buried the Flyers' fading hopes.

He swished a pair of free throws (he's made 31 in a row). And after the Flyers misfired twice on their next possession, the Hawks bled the shot clock until getting tied up with one second to go. Having to inbound the ball under their basket, they fed a wide-open Calathes in the corner, and he drilled a 15-footer as the horn quacked for a 65-57 lead with 1:23 left.

He's second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring with a 19.3 average.

Plummer gets 'T'

UD's Norman Plummer had 13 points, but received a technical for hanging on the rim and smacking the glass after a rebound dunk late in the first half. Saint Joe's converted both free throws from the tech.

Tickets on sale

Tickets in the student section at UD Arena will go on sale today for games against Fordham at 7 p.m. Wednesday and UMass at 2 p.m. Feb. 18.

Next game

Who: Fordham (13-8, 6-3) at Dayton (14-8, 4-5)

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Radio: WHIO-AM (1290), WHIO-FM (95.7)

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.