AMHERST, N.Y. – Sophomore Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.) totaled 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead Long Island University-Post to an 88-76 victory over Daemen College here tonight in East Coast Conference men's basketball action.
LIU Post, which posted its first-ever victory at Lumsden Gymnasium, won for the third time in the past four games and improved to 16-10 overall and 11-7 in the ECC. Daemen, which is ranked 10th in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll, lost for just the second time in the past 13 games and dropped to 16-8 overall and 12-5 in the ECC.
Daemen, which clinched a berth in the six-team ECC Championship tournament following a win over Roberts Wesleyan College this past Wednesday, remained in sole possession of second place in the ECC standings. The top two seeds earn a first-round bye into the ECC Championship tournament semifinals.
Daemen's dynamic duo of senior Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) and Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) both struggled against the ECC's top defensive unit this evening. Dyck, who entered the game averaging a league-high 22.7 points, connected on just 4-of-20 shots but still still managed to put up 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Mehmetaj, who ranked 10th among the ECC scoring leaders before tonight, went just 2-for-10 from the field (0-for-3 from downtown) and finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Redshirt freshman Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) added 13 points for the hosts, while freshman Darius Garvin Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) chipped in 12 points.
The Wildcats got solid play from reserves Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) and Ryan Grandits (Kenmore, N.Y./Medaille Colege) for the second straight game. Wilkes connected on 6-of-10 shots and scored a season-high 15 points, while Grandits totaled 10 points in 20 minutes.
Sophomore guard Jared Hall (South Orange, N.J.) helped the LIU Post cause with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while junior Devon McMillan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 12 points off the bench.
It was a back-and-forth affair for most of the first half and neither team led more than four points until the Wildcats got a layup by Dyck and a three-pointer by Wilkes to take a nine-point lead, 34-25, with 4:44 left in the half. The lead was still nine points, 39-30, after Hamilton drilled a three-pointer with 2:11 left before the break, but LIU Post closed out the half with an 11-3 run that cut the Daemen lead to a point, 42-41, at the break.
LIU's run continued at the start of the second half, as the Pioneers outscored the Wildcats 16-6 over the first 6:38 of the second half and opened up a 57-48 lead following a layup by junior Barrington Alston (Wilmington, Del.) with 13:22 left.
The numbers added up to a 27-9 run for the Pioneers over the final 2:11 of the first half and the first 6:38 of the second half. All nine of Daemen's points came from the free throw line during the nearly nine minute stretch.
Daemen was able to cut the lead to four points, 62-58, following a 10-5 run, but LIU Post answered with back-to-back three-pointers by junior Dillon Burns (Staten Island, N.Y.) and classmate Akosa Maduegbunam (Hyde Park, Mass.) to take a 10-point lead (68-58) with just under nine minutes to play. The LIU Post lead was seven points, 77-70, with just over three minutes left when the visitors got a three-pointer from Hall and Daemen came no closer than seven points down the stretch.
LIU Post, which entered the game ranked second among all NCAA Division II teams in field goal percentage defense, limited the potent Daemen offense to just 36-percent (23-for-64) from the field. The Wildcats made 9-of-20 three-point attempts and kept the game close by hitting 21-of-25 free throws. LIU Post shot 46-percent (31-for-68) from the field overall and canned 12-of-21 from downtown. The Pioneers also posted a 47-37 edge in total rebounds.
Daemen returns to action Sunday (Feb. 21) when it hosts New York Institute of Technology in an ECC game at 3 p.m.
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