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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MBB vs Roberts Wesleyan (1.28.14)
Jordan Greene notched 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high seven assists in tonight's win vs. Canisius
83
Winner Daemen DAE
81
Canisius CAN
Winner
Daemen DAE
83
Final
81
Canisius CAN
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Daemen DAE 41 34 8 83
Canisius CAN 44 31 6 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Basketball Pulls Off Improbable Win At NCAA Division I Canisius

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team got their 2014-15 season tipped off with a bang tonight, defeating Canisius College, 83-81 in overtime, before more than 1,200 spectators at the Koessler Athletic Center in an exhibition matchup.  Although the game won't count on either team's overall records, it was a significant statement made by the Wildcats who secured the program's first-ever win against an opponent from the NCAA Division I level.

"They should enjoy it. They worked very hard. They played a very good game.  They played together and they battled," said first-year Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald.  "We battled and we hung in there. I thought our bench gave us a great spark and got us back in the game."

Rochester-natives Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) and Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) led the way for Daemen tonight.  Dyck, a newcomer, totaled 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting while Beverly, the Co-Preseason Player of the Year in the East Coast Conference, rang up 20 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

The eventual outcome appeared completey improbable after Canisius, of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, opened the game on a 9-0 run.  The spurt was aided by a jittery Wildcat squad which turned the ball over on five straight possessions to start the game.

Despite the shaky start, Daemen battled back after allowing the host Golden Griffins to establish an 11-point gap early in the ballgame.  A three-pointer by redshirt freshman Adam Weir (Tonawanda, N.Y.) at the 14:!4 mark of the opening stanza gave the Griffs a 19-8 lead.

Later in the period, Daemen erased a 22-12 deficit with a 16-4 run, grabbing their first lead of the night on a layup by Dyck which made the count 28-26 with 6:51 remaining.  The Wildcats would go on to lead by three points, their largest lead, at three different junctures in the half.  A jumper by Dyck gave the Wildcats a 36-33 edge with 3:36 left in the half before the hosts re-established control late.  Canisius would close on an 11-5 run, including nine points from sophomore guard Zach Lewis (Windsor, Conn.) to take a 44-41 lead into intermission.

The start of the second half looked much like the start of the first.  Canisius blitzed the Wildcats out of the gate with a 10-2 spurt to retake an 11-point lead at 54-43.  The run was capped by a Lewis trifecta with 16:48 left in the half.  

But, Daemen quickly responded with 10 straight points of their own.  Back-to-back dunks by Beverly got the momentum rolling Daemen's way before senior sharpshooters Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) and Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) connected on consecutive three-pointers to cut the deficit to just one (54-53) with 13:52 left.

Weir stopped the bleeding for Canisius with a free throw on the Griffs' ensuing possession, propelling the hosts to an eventual 66-60 lead with 8:06 remaining after a Josiah Heath (Rochester, N.Y.) layup.

Daemen would score seven of the next eight points to knot the score at 67-all, capped by a one-handed flush from Dyck with 5:37 remaining.

Back-and-forth it went down the stretch with Canisius establishing a modest three-point bulge with 1:48 left following a layup by newcomer Jamal  Reynolds (Pickering, Ont.).  The lead was short-lived though as Daemen's Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) knocked down a triple on the Wildcats' next possession to tie the game at 73-73.  Shortly thereafer, Greene's steal turned into a Hannah layup in transition as Daemen grabbed just its second lead of the half (75-73).

Lewis missed a three-pointer with 13 ticks left as the ball caromed out-of-bounds with possession to the Wildcats.  But, the Griffs' full-court press forced a Daemen turnover in the waning seconds and Lewis converted a lay-in to force the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Canisius struck the first blows, scoring on back-to-back possessions to open up a four-point lead (79-75).  But, Daemen limited the Griffs to just two points over the final 4:26, closing on an 8-2 run.  A jumper by Dyck at the 2:26 mark gave Daemen a one-point lead (80-79), but the Griffs came back and took a one-point lead of their own following two free throws from sophomore Phil Valenti (Victor, N.Y.) with just over a minute left.

Dyck responded again for the Wildcats, scoring a layup with 43 ticks left to push Daemen back on top (82-81).  Heath missed a jumper on the Griffs' ensuing possession and the rebound was gobbled up by Greene who was immediately wrapped up and fouled.  He went to the line and converted one-of-two before Lewis' off-balance three-point attempt sailed wide at the buzzer, delivering the hard-fought win to the Wildcats.

Greene added 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high seven assists for the Wildcats.  Clifford knocked down all three of his three-point attempts to chip in nine points to the Daemen cause.  Fifth-year senior Aaron Davis knocked down a pair of triples as part of a seven-point, five-assist outing.

Lewis finished with a game-high 29 points for the Griffs, albeit on just 7-of-23 shooting from the field as he was blanketed by Hannah for most of the evening.  Lewis made his money at the charity stripe, converting 13-of-14 from there while adding seven boards and five steals.  Valenti added 14 points and seven rebounds (four offensive) while Heath chipped in with 12 points in a losing effort.

Daemen shot 51-percent for the game (29-for-57), including 10-for-21 from three-point range (48-percent).  That helped close the gap created by Canisius' 27-15 advantage in points from the free throw line.  The Griffs, who lost four starters from last season's 21-13 squad, shot just 35-percent from the field (24-for-69) and 19-percent from three-point range (6-for-32).

Today's meeting marked the second straight year that the teams have met in exhibition action prior to their respective regular-season openers.  The Griffs, behind the 23-point outing of eventual MAAC Player of the Year Billy Baron, scored a 102-84 win last season.

Daemen, which is coming off its own successful 2013-14 season (21-7 overall, 17-3 ECC; ECC regular-season champions), officially tips off the 2014-15 regular season this weekend by hosting the ECC-CACC Challenge sponsored by The Knee Center of Western New York.  Daemen puts its 35-game home winning streak on the line when the Wildcats face Concordia College (N.Y.) this Friday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. before facing Post University the following day (4 p.m.).
 
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