Daemen University Athletics

AMHERST, N.Y. - Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) and Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) each went over 20 points today to lead the Daemen College men's basketball team to an 88-79 non-conference victory over visiting Edinboro University at Lumsden Gymnasium.

The win today snaps a three-game skid for the Wildcats, improving them to 2-3 overall this season.  Edinboro, who was tied for seventh in this week's D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll, falls to 5-3 overall while seeing its three-game winning streak and a previously undefeated month of December come to an end.

Dyck netted a team-high 26 points, connecting on 9-of-14 shots from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.  Mehmetaj was efficient from long range as well, knocking down 3-of-4 as part of his 21-point, nine rebound outing.  It was the first 20-point outing for both players since netting 24 and 23 points, respectively, versus Holy Family University on November 14.  

After the two big guns, the Wildcats got great efforts off the bench from junior guard Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls), redshirt-junior guard/forward Jesse Lalka (Tonawanda, N.Y./Tonawanda) and redshirt-sophomore forward Xavier Long (Brooklyn, N.Y./Williamsburg Prep).  Wilkes went 3-for-4 from the field to score a season-high nine points, while tying for team-high honors with three assists.  Lalka knocked down two three-pointers, helping the Wildcats shoot 9-of-16 (56-percent) from deep in the game.  And Long saw his most extensive action of the season (14 minutes), responding with career-highs of seven points and eight rebounds.

The Fighting Scots were paced by preseason All-America guard Henri Wade-Chatman who notched a game-high 29 points.  Wade-Chatman, a 6-foot-2 senior, hit 9-of-15 field goal attempts and was lights out from long range (6-for-8).  The Fighting Scots' other standout guard, 6-foot-3 redshirt-sophomore Jaymon Mason who came into the game as the No. 2 scorer in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (22 ppg), went for 19 points today but was limited by foul trouble in the second half.  Sheldon Brogdon chipped in with 15 points off the bench for EU.

Daemen came out of the gates slowly, trailing 17-10 at the under-12 media timeout, but that's when Dyck really started to assert himself offensively.  The 6-foot-5 senior scored the next 11 points for the Wildcats.  A Mehmetaj jumper would bring Daemen within one (24-23) at the 8:26 mark, but grabbing a lead proved elusive.

Moments later, with the Fighting Scots leading 31-28, the guests got back-to-back Wade-Chatman triples to spark an 8-0 spurt resulting in their largest lead of the game (39-28).  Daemen would claw back, closing the half on an 8-3 run of their own to cut the deficit to five at the half (42-37).  

The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second half.  Mason was whistled for his fourth personal foul at the 16:08 mark, forcing the high-scoring guard to the bench with his team leading 46-45.  On the ensuing Daemen possession, Dyck exploited a gap in the EU defense, driving straight down the lane for a two-handed slam plus drawing a foul on the play.  Dyck would convert the free throw to put the Wildcats ahead 48-46, sparking a 17-3 spurt covering the next three minutes, and the Wildcats wouldn't trail again for the remainder of the contest.  Long accounted for back-to-back buckets, including his own "and-one", which was followed by consecutive three-pointers from Wilkes and Lalka, the latter capping the spurt at the 12:56 mark.

The Wildcat lead would balloon to as many as 14 when Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y./Thomasville Prep), who made his first start of the season, split a pair of free throws at the 4:36 mark to put the hosts up 78-64.  But things would get interesting as the Wildcats missed seven-straight free throws down the stretch.

The shoddy shooting from the charity stripe allowed EU to climb within six (78-72) on a pair of freebies by Mason with 2:33 left.  Mehmetaj came up with a huge offensive rebound of Dyck's missed free throw on the next Daemen possession, and Wilkes drove the hoop and scored with 2:12 remaining to push it back to a three-possession game (80-72).  The Fighting Scots would get no closer than seven for the rest of the ballgame, as Daemen rebounded with 6-for-8 free throw shooting in the final 1:09 beginning with a pair from Ryan Grandits (Kenmore, N.Y./Medaille College). 

Daemen outscored EU 51-37 in the second half.  It was the Wildcats' second 50-point period of the season, and their first since a season-opening 109-87 win over Wilmington University on November 13.  They did so by shooting 50-percent from the field in the half (18-for-36), while limiting the Fighting Scots to just 28-percent shooting (11-for-39).

The Wildcats won the rebound battle 43-40, and converted their 15 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.  Turnovers proved costly for EU as well; their 15 miscues resulted in a 20-5 boon for the Wildcats in points off turnovers.

Despite jumping back in the win column for the first time in nearly a month, little time remains for the Wildcats to savor it.  They'll play host to University of the District of Columbia tomorrow (Sunday, December 13) in the Wildcats' East Coast Conference season opener with tipoff slated for 3 p.m.