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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mbb vs nyit 12.14.16
Jesse Lalka made the sixth start of his career and scored a season-high 13 points tonight
74
NYIT NYITM 2-6, 1-3 ECC
88
Winner Daemen DAEM 6-4, 1-3 ECC
NYIT NYITM
2-6, 1-3 ECC
74
Final
88
Daemen DAEM
6-4, 1-3 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
NYIT NYITM 35 39 74
Daemen DAEM 39 49 88

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Daemen Snaps Skid With Win In ECC Home Opener

Miljenovic Comes Off Bench To Lead Five Double-Figure Scorers For Wildcats

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team used an 18-2 run early in the second half to establish a double-figure lead in what ended up being an 88-74 win over N.Y. Institute of Technology in East Coast Conference action here this evening.

The game marked Daemen's first home league game of the season, and the win snapped a four-game losing streak as the Wildcats improve to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in ECC play.  NYIT has now dropped five of their last six contests, falling to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the league.

Redshirt-junior forward Aleks Miljenovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Roberts Wesleyan College) came off the bench to hit 6-of-9 field goal attempts and total a team-high 15 points, leading a balanced scoring effort from the Wildcats that featured seven players with eight or more points, including five in double figures.  For Miljenovic, who also grabbed a team-best six rebounds, it was his first game in double figures since opening the season with three straight such games, including a 21-point outburst in the Wildcats' 74-64 defeat of St. Edward's University on November 19.

Redshirt-seniors Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) and Jesse Lalka (Tonawanda, N.Y./Tonawanda), and redshirt-freshman Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) each scored 13 points, while sophomore Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) went into double figures for the third straight game with 10.  Hannah, who came into today's contest as Daemen's leading scorer at 14.9 points per game, has now scored in double figures eight times this season, and he added five assists and four rebounds today.  Lalka was inserted into the starting lineup for just the sixth time in his career, and he produced his first double-figure scoring game since he posted 12 points in a 98-96 win at Roberts Wesleyan College last January.  The 6-foot-2 Lalka, who led the ECC in three-point field goal percentage last season, was just 4-for-11 from long distance through the Wildcats' first nine games; he canned 4-of-5 field goal attempts today, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc while playing 33 minutes - one shy of matching a career-high.  Redband continued his hot shooting from three-point range as well, going 3-for-6 from downtown for his fifth game this season with at least that many triples.  

Senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) came off the bench to chip in nine points and a game-high six assists, and redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) added eight points and four boards in just 16 minutes worth of work.

Jon Feiler (Smithtown, N.Y.) paced the Bears with game-highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.  The 6-foot-8 graduate student came in as the No. 2 scorer and No. 3 rebounder in the league, and he did not disappoint, posting his fifth double-double of the year while shooting 10-for-17 from the field.

Sophomores Kieran Hamilton (Queens Village, N.Y.) and Jeffrey Hayden (New York, N.Y.) added 12 and 10 points, respectively for NYIT, but combined to shoot just 5-for-20 from the field in doing so.

Feiler's putback just before the halftime buzzer trimmed Daemen's lead to just four points (39-35) at the break, and it accentuated a 15-2 edge in second chance points in the period for the Bears.

After NYIT opened the second-half scoring with a Feiler jumper and two Hayden free throws to tie the score at 39-39, Redband's three-pointer at the 18:19 mark put Daemen back ahead, spearheading the afore-mentioned 18-2 run.  A jumper by Feiler at the 17:25 mark was all the Bears could muster in the spurt, before the Wildcats rattled off 13 unanswered to open up a 57-41 advantage.  The lead grew to double figures on Miljenovic's bucket (52-41) in the paint off a feed from Hannah at the 14:29 mark.  Redband's three-pointer with 12:41 remaining capped the run.  Domonic Josephs (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) ended a more-than five-minute scoring drought for the Bears with a three-pointer at the 12:21 mark, cutting the Daemen lead to 13 points (57-44).

But, that's as close as the guests would get for the remainder of the contest.  Daemen's lead grew to its widest margin - 21 points - on a nifty pick-and-roll with just over a minutes to play when Wilkes found fellow senior Alex Borges (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) for an open layup, making the score 85-64.  NYIT forced three turnovers in the final minute and closed on a 10-3 run to make the final score a bit more respectable.

The 88 points today were the second-most Daemen has produced this season, and they came on 47.6 percent shooting from the field (30-for-63), including 41.7 percent from three-point range (10-for-24).  NYIT managed to shoot just 24-for-71 from the field (33.8 percent), and a chilly 5-for-27 from behind the arc (18.5 percent).  It marked the second time this season that Daemen has held an opponent to under 35 percent shooting overall.

NYIT controlled the boards, out-rebounding Daemen 50-38, thanks in part to 25 caroms at the offensive end.  Although the Bears ended with a 23-7 advantage in second chance points, Daemen held them without any over the first 10+ minutes of the second half.

Daemen held advantages in points in the paint (38-30), points off turnovers (18-14), fastbreak scoring (14-2) and bench scoring (31-24).

The Wildcats, who led for over 38 minutes in the game, have now posted all six wins this season by double-figure margins.  The 14-point margin tonight is the widest of the year for the Wildcats.

The win kept Daemen perfect at Lumsden Gymnasium this season (5-0) while running their home winning streak to a modest six-straight dating back to last season.  The Wildcats have won 61 of their 69 home games since the start of the 2011-12 season.

Daemen continues its season-long five-game home-stand with an early 11 a.m. tip-off vs. non-conference foe St. Michael's College next Monday, December 19.  It'll mark Daemen's first game against an affiliate of the  Northeast-10 Conference since defeating Le Moyne College 73-63 way back on December 30, 2004.
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