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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mbb at mercy 1.28.17
Supreme Hannah posted the fifth 20-point game of his career today vs. Mercy
82
Winner Daemen DAEM 14-6, 8-4 ECC
72
Mercy College MERM 2-18, 0-12 ECC
Winner
Daemen DAEM
14-6, 8-4 ECC
82
Final
72
Mercy College MERM
2-18, 0-12 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 34 48 82
Mercy College MERM 40 32 72

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

Daemen Rallies Past Mercy For 10-Point Win

Wildcats Erase 17-Point Deficit To Pick Up 14th Win Of Season

VALHALLA, N.Y. - Led by the 20 points of Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge), the Daemen College men's basketball team erased a sizable second-half deficit by outscoring Mercy College 32-11 over the final 12 minutes of the game en route to an 82-72 road victory in East Coast Conference action here today.  Mercy, which led by as many as 17 points in the first half, held a 61-50 advantage just over seven minutes into the second half when Daemen embarked on a 23-3 spurt to grab a lead that it would not relinquish.

Daemen improved to 14-6 overall and 8-4 in league play with the win today.  Coach Mike MacDonald's Wildcats have now won nine of their last 11 games overall, and eight of their last nine ECC contests dating back to mid-December.  It also gave Daemen a sweep of the season series with Mercy, improving to 9-0 in the all-time series.  Daemen defeated the Mavericks 76-64 at Lumsden Gymnasium on Jan. 2.

Mercy's struggles continued as they dropped their 12th straight ballgame to fall to 2-18 overall and 0-12 in the league.  The Mavericks were picked sixth in the ECC preseason poll, but they have not been able to capitalize on the momentum created after making their first postseason appearance since the 2000-01 season last year.

Hannah, a 6-foot redshirt-senior guard, hit 7-of-15 shots from the field and all four off his free throws to extend his career-best double-figure scoring streak to 13 consecutive games.  The production today marked Hannah's third 20-point game of the season, and the fifth of his career.  He scored 11 second-half points and added a career-best eight rebounds as well.

The Wildcats saw four additional players reach double figures in the scorebook today.  Redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and recorded a career-high six blocks.  Redshirt-freshman forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia), the two-time reigning ECC Rookie of the Week, canned 4-of-6 field goals attempts (3-of-4 from three-point range) and totaled 11 points.  He's now made multiple three-pointers in 11 of the last 12 games.  Redshirt-sophomore wing Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) came off the bench to combine for 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting.  Hamilton scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half while all 10 of Wilkes' points came in that period as well.

Graduate student Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y.) shot 8-for-18 from the field and totaled 20 points, five rebounds and four assists to pace the Mavs.  Hickey, who scored a season-high 24 points in the last meeting with Daemen, came in as the Mavericks leading scorer at 12.4 points per game.  Senior big man William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) scored 13 points and added seven boards in just 16 minutes of action before fouling out.  The Mavericks got great production off their bench from sophomore guard Amir Atkins (Alexandria, Va.) who recorded 16 points to lead all reserves in the game.  It was the third straight game of double-figure scoring for Atkins who has now made 10 of his 17 three-pointers this season in this recent stretch after knocking down 4-of-9 attempts from long distance today.

Mercy, which entered the game ranked 10th in the league in field goal percentage, torched the nets at the outset today, making 11 of their first 16 field goal attempts, including 3-of-4 from three-point land, to establish a 26-9 lead just over nine minutes into the game.  The opening spurt included a string of 14 unanswered points after Daemen had pulled within two points at 9-7.

Daemen chipped away for the remainder of the period, ultimately pulling with six points at halftime.  Hamilton converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 34 seconds left, and following a Mercy turnover, Hannah closed the half by knocking down a three-pointer to make the score 40-34.  Mercy enjoyed 48.5 percent shooting (16-for-33) in the period, including a 5-of-9 showing from three-point range (55.6 percent).

The Wildcats trimmed the Mercy lead to just three points on two different ocassions early in the second half before the hosts pushed its edge back to double figures.  Leading by five points (46-41), Mercy scored 11 of the next 15 points in the game to go ahead 57-45 with 15:27 remaining.  Atkins nailed a three-pointer and Hickey made two triples in the spurt.  Another Mercy three-pointer, this one from junior guard Matt Morgan (White Plains, N.Y.) at the 12:53 mark put the Mavericks ahead by 11 points (61-50).

But, the Daemen defense stiffened here, forcing the Mavericks into seven consecutive missed field goals and five turnovers over the next six minutes.  The Wildcats would score 15 unanswered, pulling even on a jumper by Wilkes at the 8:55 mark, and forging ahead just 28 seconds later with a transition layup by Hannah.  It was the Wildcats' first lead of the game after trailing for the game's first 31-and-a-half minutes.  Hamilton, who scored six points in the spurt, drove the lane and scored with 7:34 to go, putting Daemen ahead 65-61.  Atkins answered on the other end with his fourth three-pointer of the contest, ending a nearly six-minute drought between field goals for the Mavs.

The Wildcat run continued as Hamilton and Wilkes combined to score the next eight points.  Hamilton converted a pair of free throws with 3:31 to play which put the Wildcats ahead by nine points (73-64).  Hickey responded with a an old-fashioned three-point play at the other end, bringing the Mavs within six.  But, Redband canned a corner three-pointer on the ensuing Daemen possession to push it back to a three-possession game (76-67) with 2:40 left.

Mercy got within six points once more after Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y.) shot 3-for-4 from the charity stripe over back-to-back possessions to make the score 76-70.  But once again it was Wilkes with the answer for the Wildcats.  He drove and scored on Daemen's next possession, and following an empty possession for the Mavs, he converted a pair of free throws with 1:09 remaining to give Daemen its first double-figure lead (80-70) which essentially put the game out of reach.

Daemen scored 48 points in the second half while shooting 58.6 percent from the field (17-for-29) and 84.6 percent at the free throw line (11-for-13).  For the game, Daemen connected on 31-of-61 field goal attempts (50.8 percent), including 7-of-18 from three-point range (38.9 percent) which snapped a string of 11 straight games with at least eight three-point field goals.

After their blistering start, Mercy ended up shooting 40.9 percent for the game (27-for-66), making just 16 of their final 50 field goal attempts (32 percent).  The Mavericks shot just 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) while committing seven turnovers in the final 12+ minutes.  Mercy canned 10-of-25 shots from three-point range (40 percent), but hurt themselves at the charity stripe where they went 8-for-18 (44.4 percent).

Daemen was far more efficient in exploiting the Mavs' miscues than the other way around.  Mercy committed just 12 turnovers, but Daemen turned those into 22 points.  On the contrary, Mercy managed just 12 points off 14 Wildcat turnovers.  Daemen also held a 44-32 advantage in points in the paint, limiting the hosts to just 12 such points in the second half.

The Wildcats sit in a tie with Queens College (11-8, 8-4 ECC) for third place in the league standings following today's action.  Today's win sets up a huge showdown with second-place University of Bridgeport (11-8, 7-3 ECC) in both teams' next outing.  Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 at Lumsden Gymnasium.








 
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