Mercy (1-16, 1-10 ECC) 24-44—68
Daemen (12-6, 9-3 ECC) 37-45—82
 
AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen College men's basketball team earned their 8^th straight conference win as well as their 28^th straight home win with a 82–68 victory over the Mercy College Mavericks this afternoon at Lumsden Gymnasium. The win improved Daemen to 12-6 on the season and 9-3 in the ECC while Mercy dropped to 1-16 on the year and 1-10 in conference play.

The opening minutes of the first half were controlled by the Mavericks for the most part.  They made the first three baskets of the contest, and mounted a 5-0 lead about three minutes into the half before the Wildcats came battling back to go up 10-9 with 11:41 left until intermission. There wasn't much separation between the two on the scoreboard over the next few minutes of the half, until Daemen triggered a 20-9 run, after a layup by Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) at the 10:49 mark. The Wildcats ended the run on a Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y. /St. Francis) 3-pointer to give Daemen a 30-18 lead with 4:23 left in the half. Daemen ended the half with a dunk from Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) leaving the score 37-24 and marking the largest lead of the opening stanza. 

Daemen did not trail the rest of the contest as the second half didn't go so well for the Mavericks. They were ice cold to begin the second stanza, scoring just two points over the first seven minutes of the second half.  Daemen came out of the locker room on a 21-2 spurt leaving the score 58-26 after a three pointer from Davis with 13:34 left to go in the game. A minute later Davis hit another three to give the Wildcats their largest lead of the game.
 
The Mavericks came no closer than 14 points the rest of the game leaving the final margin 82-68. Daemen shot 18-for-25 (72-percent) from the charity stripe while Mercy went 11-for14 (78.6-percent). Senior center Olajide Keshinro led the Mavericks with a double-double scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. LeBrandon Smith and P.J. Walters scored 21 points between the two.

Senior Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) paced the Wildcats, scoring a team high 16 points while also adding four assists.  Two other Wildcats scored in double figures as well.  Beverly went 5-for-7 (71.4-percent) from the field and scored 14 points, added nine rebounds and four blocks. Teammate Aaron Davis (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) added 10 points after going 2-3 from beyond the arc. 
 
Johnson,  Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Erie CC) and Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) all chipped in nine points apiece while senior point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) contributed 10 assists to the Daemen win.

The Wildcats shot a blistering 56.5-percent (13-for-23) from the field in the opening half and 54.9-percent (28-for-51) on the afternoon. They had 21 assists in the game and outrebounded the Mavericks 37-32. The Wildcats also shot 47.1-percent (8-for-17) from long distance.

The Wildcats are in action again on Tuesday, Jan. 28, when they host another conference contest against the Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks.  Tip off is set for 8:00 p.m.
 
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