ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Senior guard/forward Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College), playing in front of his hometown crowd for the final time in his collegiate career, scored a driving layup with four seconds remaining to deliver an improbable 98-96 win for the Daemen College men's basketball team over their longtime rivals from Roberts Wesleyan College in East Coast Conference action at the Voller Athletic Center tonight.

Dyck's basket capped a 34-10 run for the Wildcats covering the final 6:00 of the ballgame, erasing what was a 22-point lead for the host RWC Redhawks with 6:16 to play.  Dyck was electric in the pivotal stretch, scoring 18 points to finish the game with a career-high-matching 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field, and 8-for-13 shooting from the charity stripe.

It was an important win for the Wildcats as they jump back over the .500 mark overall (7-6) while evening their ECC mark (3-3) for the season.  The result tonight also continued Daemen's dominance in the all-time series with the Redhawks.  The Wildcats have now won nine-straight and 16 of the last 17 meetings to lead the all-time series 29-11.  It also marked Daemen's ninth-straight win in the series in games played at Voller Athletic Center.

It goes without saying that the loss is a tough pill to swallow for the Redhawks who led for over 35 minutes in the game.  But, the Redhawks drop to 4-8 overall and 1-5 in ECC play.

The loss spoiled an incredible three-point shooting display from the Redhawks who connected on 18-of-31 shots from long distance (58-percent) in the game.  RWC rode an 11-of-19 showing from deep in the first half to an eight-point lead (47-39) at the break.  Senior guard Marcus Gooding came off the bench to knock home 5-of-8 three-point attempts in the period, leading the Redhawks to a 47-point output which was two points shy of their season-high for a single half.  Gooding sparked a 15-2 first-half run, hitting four three-pointers in the spurt which turned a slim one-point RWC lead (22-21) into a 14-point gap (37-23) with 6:13 left in the period.

Daemen would cut that to just a three-point deficit (40-37) following a layup by newcomer Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) at the 2:30 mark, but RWC closed on 7-2 spurt, getting back-to-back buckets by big man Malik Dare and an old-fashioned three-point play from freshman guard Zack Panebianco to provide the halftime margin.

RWC quickly extended its lead to 12 in the opening minutes of the second half, leading 57-45 following a three-pointer by senior guard Mike Stone at the 17:03 mark.  But, Daemen responded with three successive triples of their own, getting made jumpers from freshman guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena), redshirt-junior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) and sophomore guard Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y./Thomasville Prep) to trail by just three (57-54) at the 14:26 mark.

The teams traded baskets over the next couple of minutes until a three-pointer from freshman guard Quinn Carey - his seventh of the game - at the 11:38 mark kick-started a 21-4 run for the hosts that covered the next five minutes, turning their five-point edge (65-60) into a 22-point cushion (86-64).  Panebianco accounted for 11 points in the run, including nine-straight at one point.  Stone's lay-in at the 6:16 mark capped the spurt which looked to put this one out of reach.

But, Dyck exploded offensively and the Daemen defense came to life by employing a rarely-used full court press which would force six critical turnovers down the stretch.

Mehmetaj converted a pair of free throws with exactly 6:00 to play to start the comeback which began with Daemen rattling off 15 unanswered points.  The 6-foot-7 forward would add a three-pointer, as would reserve guard/forward Jesse Lalka (Tonawanda, N.Y./Tonawanda), and Dyck totaled seven points in the spurt, capped by his old-fashioned three-point play at the 3:13 mark which cut the deficit to seven (86-79).  

RWC would go 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to extend back to a 10-point lead (91-81) with 2:49 play.  But, the Wildcats kept surging.  Daemen would cut the deficit to four (92-88) with 1:46 to play following a Wilkes layup in transition which was setup by a Petrucelli steal.

Panebianco made good on two freebies on the ensuing possession to push the Redhawks back to a six-point lead (94-88), but Dyck was promptly fouled going to the cup and he knocked down two from the free-throw line with 1:33 left.  Following a RWC turnover, Dyck split a pair at the line to bring Daemen within one possession (94-91) for the first time since Petrucelli's three-pointer at the 14:26 mark.

Another RWC turnover was followed by a Dyck layup to bring Daemen within one (94-93), and Carey was off the mark on a pair of free throws on the Redhawks' next possession, opening the door for Daemen to take the lead.  They did just that when Sarkis rebounded his own missed three-pointer and was fouled with 37 ticks on the clock.  The greenhorn guard calmly knocked down both his attempts from the charity stripe, giving Daemen its first lead (95-94) since the 16:54 mark of the first half when the score was 8-6.

After another empty RWC possession, Sarkis was fouled coming up the floor and he connected on 1-of-2 from the line, creating a two-point Daemen lead (96-94) with 22 seconds left.  Panebianco responded for RWC, going the length of the floor and scooped in a layup to knot the score with 16 seconds remaining.  The freshman's bucket ended an exactly six-minute drought without a field goal.

That set the stage for Dyck's signature bucket of the game.  After a Daemen timeout, Dyck got the ball on the right wing and bulled his way to the basket, scoring over the outstretched arms of several Redhawks defenders.  A desperation heave from beyond half court was off the mark for RWC as time expired, sending the good amount of Wildcat faithful in attendance into a tizzy.

Dyck's performance tonight gives him back-to-back 30-point games for the first time in his career.  He's now recorded four 30-point outings in the last two seasons, and is averaging 30.7 points per game while shooting 60-percent from the field (32-for-53) in the last three games.  He entered tonight's game tied with Chris Millender of Dowling College for league lead in points per game, and he now stands alone atop that category with 22.8 points per game.

In addition to Dyck, Daemen placed three other players in double figures in the game as they moved to 48-2 when scoring 90 or more points since the start of the 2009-10 season.  Mehmetaj recorded his third double-double of the season (18 points, 10 rebounds), and his first since December 18.  Lalka knocked down a season-high four three-point shots to finish with 12 points for his second double-figure scoring game of the year.  Petrucelli chipped in with 10 points and five boards, and with two more three-pointers today, he's now made multiple three-point shots three times in the last four games after doing so just once in the first 38 games of his career.

Wilkes added nine key points off the bench and Sarkis contributed eight points, three boards, two assists and two steals.

Panebianco, a product of Jamestown High School and the Western New York Player of the Year last winter as picked by The Buffalo News, finished with a team-high 26 points to pace a trifecta of 20-point scorers for the Redhawks.  He shot 8-for-13 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, while adding eight assists and four steals.

Carey wound up shooting 7-for-10 from long range en route to 23 points.  His output was matched by Gooding who shot 6-for-11 from deep in the game.  Dare added 13 points and five boards before fouling out while Stone chipped in with nine points.

Next up for the Wildcats is a date with league-leading Long Island University Post in Brookville, N.Y. this Friday, January 15.  The Pioneers raced past N.Y. Institute of Technology tonight (105-70) to remain atop the ECC standings with an unblemished 7-0 record thus far.  Tip-off from the Pratt Recreation Center is set for 7:30 p.m.