And that’s what makes the undermanned bunch so embraceable to Flyers followers.
Who would have thought UD would be 11-4 with victories over Wake Forest, Minnesota, Alabama, Ole Miss and Saint Louis? Especially when you consider those last two wins came without Josh Benson, a 6-foot-9 windmill of long arms and legs who was having a breakout season. The team’s second leading rebounder and scorer suffered a season-ending torn knee ligament against Ole Miss.
While point guard Kevin Dillard said the team is “dedicating the season to Josh,” Coach Archie Miller said there was only one way to do that: “We had to reinvent ourselves in so many ways.”
And that’s what the Flyers did Wednesday.
With a vocal crowd of nearly 12,000 along for the ride, the Flyers went from a squad most fans felt real trepidation about when the game tipped off to a team that everybody at UD Arena had fallen in love with by the final buzzer.
Gritty and talented, the 12-2 Billikens had led by eight at the half, and though they lost the advantage late in regulation, they tied the game — and seemed to steal the momentum — when Cody Ellis hoisted a rushed, off-balance, 3-pointer that banked in with 1.1 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
But as it had done all night, UD found another hero — shooting guard Paul Williams carried the team in overtime just as Dillard did through much of regulation — and the Flyers stunned Saint Louis 79-72 as the jubilant hometown crowd practically swooned.
How can you not like this bunch?
They now have just nine scholarship players, they aren’t overly talented, they have a young, first-year coach (Miller was in just his 15th game as a head coach Wednesday while Saint Louis’s Rick Majerus and his veteran assistant Jim Crews had 1,426 games as head coaches between them) — and yet the Flyers keep winning.
“Since I’ve been here this is our best win,” Miller said. “This was a total team effort.”
Wednesday night, that translated to Alex Gavrilovic, the freshman from France who is still learning the game, contributing 12 points and seven rebounds.
And it pulled Ralph Hill, who played just 23 mop-up minutes last season, off the bench for eight minutes in crunch time in which he got two rebounds, provided adequate interior defense and then garnered the praise of his teammates.
Against the Billikens, Luke Fabrizius hit some clutch 3-pointers, Chris Johnson finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Williams had seven points, a steal and a key rebound in the overtime.
And then there was Dillard, who finished with 18 points, 10 assists and was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
“The way (Saint Louis) plays is very unorthodox, they don’t allow you to do things conventionally,” Miller said. “We really had to be smart and keep the ball in (Dillard’s) hands.
“He kept us going in the first half, kept us afloat. In the second half, I know he had a couple of turnovers, but he had the ball in his hands 38 minutes. To beat a team like them, you need a player like him who can make plays. Kevin was tremendous.”
Dillard said all of his teammates rose to the cause: “I know people doubted us (beforehand), but we’ve got a lot of people with a lot of pride in that locker room.”
And Fabrizius knows that attitude strikes a chord with the crowd.
“Coach Miller said the way we’re gonna keep them in the game and have them energized is by playing hard — going on the floor for loose balls, chasing down balls, and blocking a shot the way Paul did. ... Effort will win us games.”
And it did something else, too, Miller claimed. It bailed him out from a late-game decision he wished he would have done differently.
UD had a three-point lead with 13.3 seconds left in regulation. Saint Louis inbounded the ball from its own half court and the coach said if he had “gone with my gut,” he would have had his guys intentionally foul.
Even with two free throws Saint Louis couldn’t tie the game.
Instead, Ellis launched his improbable three.
“That was my mistake — I’ll never do it again,” Miller said quite candidly. He admitted being a young coach and learning “lots of lessons” as he goes:
“Like the amazing delicate balance there is between time on the floor and when to foul. We have set rules when you do it and we were above that time, but I believed in my heart we should foul. (Afterward) I kicked myself for it more than anything. I’m glad my players bailed me out.”
An honest coach, over-achieving players who truly play like a team and a hard-fought victory — this is a bunch with whom folks honestly can fall in love.
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