NIT Final: Dayton vs. North Carolina

    Even the 2 teams who made the NIT Final may have had a hard time believing they were there. Well, maybe North Carolina.


     Dayton, I don't know. 


     Marcus Johnson scored 20, Chris Wright and Chris Johnson scored 14 as Dayton staved off a Tar Heel rally to beat 4th seeded North Carolina 79-68. 


      The Flyers beat Illinois State 63-42, Cincinnati 81-66, Illinois 77-71, Mississippi 68-63, and UNC tonight. The Tar Heels beat William and Mary 80-72, Mississippi State 76-74, UAB 60-55, and Rhode Island 68-67 in OT.


       The Tar Heels took a 4-2 lead, but threes by Wright and M. Johnson helped Dayton take a 10-6 lead. Tyler Zeller scored 5 for UNC, but Marcus Johnson scored 4 on a 10-3 run that had Dayton on top 20-14. Each team scored 4 points and the Flyers led 24-18.


      Will Graves, who scored 25, made a 3 and Deon Thompson scored to make it a 1 point game, and another 3 by Graves and a basket by Deon Thompson tied the scored at 28. Then Dayton got rolling. Paul Williams hit a pair of 3's, and 4 points by Chris Wright gave Dayton a 40-30 lead. After a dunk halfway away from the basket in the paint gave Dayton a 42-30 lead, Paul Williams hit a 3 from the right perimeter as Dayton led 45-32 at the half.


     But Graves hit 2 more 3's, John Henson scored 4 and after a Tyler Zeller dunk UNC only trailed 46-44. But Marcus Johnson made a 3, and Kurt Huelsman scored 4. Then Luke Fabrizius hit a 3 and Dayton led 56-49. UNC went on a 5-0 run, then Graves and M. Johnson exchanged 3's. Paul Williams and Chris Johnson hit 3's, and Dayton led 67-60 with just under 4 minutes left.


     Then Graves hit another 3 with 3:44 left. However, Chris Johnson answered with a 3 right down the middle, and a putback slam (while staying in the air) had Dayton up 72-63. But Graves made another 3, and with 1:14 left Dayton led 73-68. But on a 2 on 1, Chris Johnson made a layup, and Marcus Johnson and Chris Johnson finished the game off with free throws. The Flyers celebrated their first NIT Title since 1968 with a win over North Carolina 79-68.


      CIT Title: Missouri State 78, Pacific 65
      Backup center Caleb Patterson scored 16, Missouri State had 4 players in double figures as the Bears staved off the Tigers 78-65.


       CBI Title, Best of 3: Game 1: Virginia Commonwealth 68, Saint Louis 56: Joey Rodriguez came up big down the stretch and scored 22 in VCU's 68-56 win over Saint Louis.
        Game 2: VCU 71, SLU 65: Brandon Rozzell scored a career high 27 as VCU came back to beat Saint Louis 71-65. The Rams trailed 33-24 at the half.

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