March 7, 2007

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Brian Roberts has been the leader for Dayton all season, and that didn't change in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

Roberts scored 17 of his 24 points in a decisive second-half to lead the Flyers to an 81-63 victory over Charlotte on Wednesday, and a second-round matchup with long-time rival and top-seeded Xavier (23-7).

A second-team all-conference choice, Roberts hit 5-of-6 shots in the second half, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Dayton shot 67 percent in the final 20 minutes.

"I didn't think anything changed," said Roberts, who averaged 18.2 points in the regular season. "Whenever they gave me the opportunity to score, I took advantage of it."

Roberts had been a little passive in the first half, taking four shots in seeing Dayton (19-11) fall behind by seven points.

"In the second half I took advantage of the mistakes they made on defense," the junior added.

Charles Little, the conference's sixth man of the year, added 12 points and eight rebounds in the first of four games at Boardwalk Hall in this casino resort.

"Give our guys credit," Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. "They stuck with it and grinded it out, in terms of playing great defense in the second half and really turning the tide with our aggressiveness on both the glass and offensively."

Jimmy Binnie added 12 points and Norman Plummer had 10 and eight rebounds for Dayton, which last went to the NCAA tournament in 2004. The Flyers matched their season high with 11 3-pointers.

Xavier swept both regular-season games against its longtime Ohio rival.

Leemire Goldwire had 23 points for ninth-seeded Charlotte (14-16), which was outscored 41-18 in the final 16-plus minutes. De'Angelo Alexander added 14 points and E.J. Drayton had 12 for the 49ers, who were 8-of-27 from 3-point range and 21-of-57 from the floor, or 37 percent.

"Dayton raised its game in the second half, making plays and shots," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. "On the other end, we had good looks that just didn't go in."

Trailing 45-40 early in the second half, Dayton took command with an 18-5 spurt that featured eight points from Roberts, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Plummer got the spurt started with a drive down the lane and Marcus Johnson, who left the game in the final minutes with a high ankle sprain, nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game.

There were two more ties, the last coming when Goldwire hit a 3-pointer with 9:58 to go. Roberts then took over, hitting two 3-pointers in an eight point run that put Dayton ahead for good.

Johnson's status for Thursday's game is uncertain.