AMHERST, N.Y. – Senior Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) made the most of the final home game of his outstanding his career, as he totaled 29 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and four blocks to lead Daemen College to an 84-69 victory over Mercy College tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium in East Coast Conference men's basketball action.
Daemen snapped a two-game slide and improved to 17-8 overall and 12-5 in the ECC. Mercy dropped to 7-17 overall and 2-16 in the league. The Wildcats remained in third place in the ECC standings behind St. Thomas Aquinas College and the University of Bridgeport.
Beverly, who registered his 18th double-double of the season (and 45th of his career), was good on 7-of-11 shots (including his second career three-pointer) and also canned 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. He has now scored in double figures in 55-straight games. Seniors Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) and Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) also turned in solid efforts in their final home game. Clifford made 5-of-8 three-pointers and scored a career-high 19 points, while Greene went 4-for-8 from downtown and totaled 12 points. Greene, who has now made at least one triple in 36-straight games, has canned 19 three-pointers and shot 54-percent (19-35) from behind the arc over the past four games. Junior Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) chipped in 11 points, four assists and two steals.
Junior Lazaro Martinez (Harlem, N.Y.) led the Mavericks with 16 points and six rebounds.
Daemen scored the first 10 points of the game and the hosts later opened up a 17-point lead, 20-3, after sophomore Jesse Lalka (Tonawanda, N.Y./Tonawanda) drained a three-pointer with 10:40 left before halftime. The Wildcats later took a 22-point lead, 34-12, after a jumper by Hannah with just under four minutes left before intermission, and Lalka's second triple of the half just before the halftime buzzer gave the hosts a 44-20 halftime lead.
The lead grew to 29 points, 62-33, after Beverly threw down a monstrous ally-oop dunk from Hannah five minutes into the second half, and the Wildcats later took their largest lead of the game, 70-38, following a three-pointer by Hannah with 11:42 left. The lead remained at least 25 points until the final minutes of the game.
Daemen shot 60-percent (15-for-25) from the field in the first half and finished 25-for-53 (47%) overall. Mercy connected on just 28-percent (8-29) of its shots in the first half and finished 26-for-71 (37%) from the field overall. The Wildcats equaled their season-high for three-pointers made in a game (14) and also also made 20-of-24 free throws. Mercy collected 24 offensive rebounds in the game and posted a 46-33 edge in total rebounds.
Daemen returns to action Tuesday (Feb. 24) when it travels to Roberts Wesleyan College for an ECC game at 8 p.m.
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