Dayton Flight Week in Review: June 7th -13th
By: Austin Fletcher
As the TBL season enters its final month of regular season play, the playoff picture for the league has become ever clearer to those battling for a crucial spot in postseason play. With many teams entering this previous weekend with 6 games remaining on their schedule, it is reasonable to assume that around half of the league knows their playoff fates. The top quarter of the league, made up of teams such as the Houston Push and Syracuse Stallions, have already clinched a bid to the postseason tournament. Likewise, the bottom quarter of the league, with teams who have battled turmoil all season, have a good understanding that they won’t finish amongst the top-4 teams in their respective divisions and make the playoffs. So, you may ask, where does this leave the Dayton Flight?
The answer is complicated, but the bottom line is the Flight are still in the hunt. If you had asked head coach Gary Armstrong whether he would have wanted to clinch a playoff spot earlier rather than later, I’m sure you would get a strange look and obvious answer in response. But flipping the perspective, still being in the playoff hunt this late into the season after a difficult 2019 campaign can be remarked as a great opportunity for the franchise to make some serious noise that 25 percent of the league no longer has the chance to do. The Flight entered the week amid a five-game road trip, with matchups against Flint United (June 11th) and the Kokomo BobKats (June 13th) giving the team another chance to Take Flight.
Friday night’s game against Flint United was a success for the Flight, and they improved in all the key areas that the team has been struggling with in spurts during the season. With a final score of 113-107, the Flight’s defense and their ability to control the pace of the game was the big storyline. Despite the United’s Jaire Grayer scoring 31 points and the entire Flint team shooting 65% from the field, the Flight dominated the pace during the game and handicapped the efficient Flint scoring to a slow, unsteady pace. Kelvon Fuller led the way for the Flight, dropping a team-high 29 points and adding 5 rebounds on the night.
Sunday’s afternoon matchup against the Midwest Division leading Kokomo BobKats would prove to be a tougher test for the Flight, as they ultimately lost the contest with a final score of 134-115. While the Flight’s efficiency against Flint United proved to be a strength Friday night, the team’s collective field goal percentage of 40 percent (to Kokomo’s 53 percent) was the deciding factor in the game. The BobKats played all-around team basketball, with eight players scoring in double-digits. The Flight’s scoring was fueled by Myron McGowan’s 24-points, while his additional 5 rebounds and 2 steals made it one of his best stat lines of the season.
Splitting the games this weekend wasn’t the worst-case scenario for the Flight, but it puts an extreme level of pressure on the last four contests of the season (two games against Detroit Hustle, two games against Indy Express). The Flight will need to win out to have a good shot at usurping the Condors for the coveted fourth seed, and this final battle for the postseason begins this Friday (June 18th @ 7PM) as the Flight travel to Detroit to take on the Hustle and continues Sunday (June 20th @ 3PM) when the Flight finish their weekend road-trip against Indy Express.
Check back this time next week for another Dayton Flight Week in Review article. Until then, check us out on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date with everything Dayton Flight.
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