OAKDALE, N.Y. –Junior forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) recorded his 500^th career rebound as the Daemen College men's basketball team handed Dowling College their first East Coast conference loss in a 79-72 overtime victory tonight.

With the win, Daemen improved to 9-6 on the season and 6-3 in conference play while Dowling dropped to 13-3 on the year and 7-1 in the conference.

Junior Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) knocked down five three-pointers and tied his career high of 28 points off the bench to lead the way for the Wildcats. Beverly recorded his eighth double-double of the season as he notched 17 points and dominated the glass grabbing 15 rebounds for the visitors.

Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Erie CC), who scored the game tying layup to go into overtime, chipped in 12 points, six rebounds and two steals to the Daemen cause. Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) stuffed the stat sheet as he contributed seven points, ten rebounds, five assists and four steals while teammate Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) added eight points.

Junior guard Darien Davis netted 22 points while senior guard Leon Taylor added 21points for the hosts. Corwin Austin posted a double-double for the Golden Lions with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The two teams traded baskets throughout the first five minutes of the game as Daemen led 9-4 after a steal by Coppola who found Beverly for a dunk at the 14:03 mark. The next few minutes were essentially a back and forth affair (13-13, 9:21) until Dowling outscored the Wildcats 16-5 over the next six minutes. Daemen closed out the first half with a three-pointer by Greene in which the Wildcats went into the locker room down 33-28.
 
The Golden Lions scored the first six points of the second half and later took a 16-point lead, 51-35, following a jumper by Austin with 13:43 left. Daemen cut the lead to 10 points, 57-47, after another Greene three pointer with 6:42 remaining in the second half. The Wildcats never gave up as they outscored the hosts 18-8, tying the game after a outstanding effort from Ogbonna who grabbed an offensive board and put it back in for a layup.

The teams entered overtime tied at 65 and the Wildcats opened the scoring when Johnson hit a jumper in the paint at the 4:45 mark. The Golden Lions responded with a three pointer by Davis and then a layup by Taylor to put the hosts up 70-67 with 3:36 left in overtime. Dowling turned the ball over on their next three possessions which led to back-to-back layups for the visitors and put Wildcats up 71-70. Daemen's final points came off of free throws as the Wildcats went 8-for-12 from the charity stripe leaving the final margin 79-72.
 
Dowling shot 49-percent (27-55) from the field (53% in the first half) and made 10-of-22 from behind the arc. Daemen forced 21 turnovers posting a 27-8 edge in points off turnovers and also held a 15-18 advantage on second chance points.
 
Daemen will travel to Connecticut tomorrow (Jan. 18) to face off against the University of Bridgeport Knights for a 4 p.m. East Coast Conference game at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium.