Despite loss, Mikesell, Flyer Faithful stand out

Dayton’s heart-breaking loss to VCU Saturday came with at least two heroes for the Flyers:

The sold-out crowd at UD Arena and redshirt junior Ryan Mikesell.

Just before the start of the much-anticipated Atlantic 10 showdown — with the music cranked up louder than usual

and beloved former UD stars Scoochie Smith and Kendall Pollard making a surprising appearance on the court to swirl white shirts overhead and whip the crowd into a frenzy — the overhyped Flyer fans, whose “White- Out” look was meant to provide group intimidation, matched the decibels and, at least in the student section, the beat.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our crowd tonight,” Flyers coach Anthony Grant said after the 69-68 loss. “They were awesome.”

With a tired laugh, he thought back to the 22-point deficit his team had faced and added: “There was a lot of bad going on out there, and they stayed with us throughout the night and gave us a chance.

“We had to extend some extra minutes with Trey (Landers) out today, and a lot of guys were able to play off that energy (the crowd) gave us.”

At least that’s how it was late in the game as the Flyers nearly pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in program history. But at the start there may have been a reverse effect Mikesell admitted:

“I was talking to somebody before the game This group of guys has never really seen UD Arena packed like this. I know my freshman and sophomore years, with VCU, I think we were playing for the championship and it was the same atmosphere. Just people going nuts. It was loud!

“I thought at the beginning of the game we were just too antsy (because of it.) But then we finally kind of figured it out in the second half. We started to calm down and bring the fight to them.”

VCU, on the other hand, didn’t seemed to be fazed by the atmosphere Mikesell said:

“They weren’t afraid of the environment. You could tell. They were ready to start the game.”

In the first half the Rams controlled their offensive boards,

continued from C1 poured in six three pointers and forced UD into 11 turnovers. That gave them a comfortable 41-29 lead at the break.

While most of the Flyers struggled in the first half — Obi Toppin had four turnovers and two points, Jalen Crutcher also had just two points and Jordan Davis, one — it would have been worse were it not for Mikesell.

The 6-foot-7 forward from St. Henry made six of seven shots for 13 points and had three rebounds, an assist, a steal and blocked shot. Just as important was him talking to his younger teammates, trying to stabilize and refo- cus them.

“He kept us in the hunt in the first half,” said Grant, who then stressed the things Mikesell does that “don’t show up on the stat sheet.

“Ryan’s a guy who has been reliable all year in terms of whatever we ask him do.”

Mikesell finished with a team-high 22 points, but the most surprising thing may have been that blocked shot, an effort that would epitomize the Flyers no-quit attitude.

With 3:20 left in the first half, VCU guard Malik Crow- field stole the ball and was headed down the court for what looked like a sure fast- break layup.

Mikesell — not especially known for his speed or hops — came roaring in behind him, leaped and blocked the shot from behind.

Asked about it later, he shrugged: “I’ve always had pretty good timing. In high school, I blocked a lot of shots. Obviously, here, everybody’s a lot bigger, faster, stronger, so I kind of have to be more of a time jumper.”

And with that in mind, let’s do a little time-jumping ourselves.

Not up toward the rim — few of us could get there — but back to Saturday’s game and a few of the images and occurrences that stood out: