I was at the Dayton Xavier game and I have the sense that these two proud programs respect one another. Xavier missed a shot with 35 seconds left in regulation and Dayton did not take another shot, they held the ball outside the top of the key and as time expired, guys like Mark Lyons, Tu Holloway, Brad Redford and Kenny Frease patted the Dayton players on the back, shook their hands and congratulated the Flyers on an outstanding win. I had the notion that these two programs respect one another.
Two years ago, in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 tournament, Xavier had a 2 point lead late and Rob Lowery was trying to call for time, until Tu Holloway hit the ball out of his hands and Lowery got "fiesty" and hit Holloway back and it resulted in a Technical Foul.
One of my favorite moments of this rivalry occurred prior to the 2007 game at UD. Prior to tip off, Xavier's Justin Cage walked to the end of the Dayton bench and shook the hand of Dayton Senior Forward Monty Scott, who was out for the year with a torn ACL. When I saw Cage do that, I got a little choked up because here's a guy who could not participate in the game and one of the players from your arch rival comes over to your bench and shakes your hand and I thought that was a awesome gesture on Cage's part.
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