Virus dashes Dayton’s magical hoops season

Decision to cancel March Madness ends hopes for University of Dayton's men's basketball team.

By

Sports

March 13, 2020 - 5:03 PM

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The coronavirus outbreak has abruptly roused the University of Dayton’s men’s basketball team, and the city it uplifted, from a dream of a season.

The 29-2 Flyers, ranked No. 3 in The Associated Press poll, were rolling into tournament play on a 20-game winning streak that had lifted spirits in a city battered in the past year by a mass shooting and devastating tornadoes.

But the NCAA’s decision Thursday to cancel March Madness, one of many such cancellations decided this week as the virus spread, ended hopes for the small Roman Catholic school’s first Final Four appearance since 1967, when an upstart Flyers team lost to Lew Alcindor-led UCLA in the championship game.

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