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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
sarkis mbb vs edinboro 11.28.17 (2)
82
NYIT NYITM 3-15, 1-6 ECC
93
Winner Daemen DAEM 11-6, 5-2 ECC
NYIT NYITM
3-15, 1-6 ECC
82
Final
93
Daemen DAEM
11-6, 5-2 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
NYIT NYITM 34 48 82
Daemen DAEM 50 43 93

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Men's Basketball Holds Off NYIT For Sixth Straight Win

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team built a 26-point second-half lead before fending off a furious rally by the visiting New York Institute of Technology Bears, ultimately hanging on for a 92-83 win in East Coast Conference action at Lumsden Gymnasium today. NYIT, which trailed 66-40 with under 15 minutes remaining, outscored Daemen 34-12 over a 10-minute span to pull within four points (78-74) before the Wildcats righted the ship following the game's final media timeout.

The win pushed Daemen's overall record to 11-6 this season, while also improving to 5-2 in ECC play. The Wildcats have won six consecutive games, the longest active streak among ECC teams. The winning streak has included four consecutive ECC triumphs, outscoring league foes by an average of 17 points per game in that span. NYIT has now dropped 14 of their last 15 outings, falling to 3-15 overall and 1-6 in the league with today's loss.

The Daemen backcourt of Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) and Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.) combined for 60 points to lead the way. Harris continued his torrid play of late with career-highs of 23 points and eight rebounds, while adding six assists, three steals and two blocks. It's the second straight game that Harris has established new benchmarks for points and rebounds, doing so while shooting a perfect 9-for-9 from the field and 2-for-2 from three-point range today.  Since being inserted into the starting lineup six games ago, Harris is averaging 13.7 points on 62.2 percent shooting (33-for-53). Sarkis was nearly as good, matching his career-high with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a 4-of-6 showing from three-point range. Garvin was the go-to guy down the stretch, canning 9-of-11 free throws in the second half as part of his 17-point outing.

Redshirt freshman center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) chipped in with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, good for his third double-double of the season which have all come since Christmas. The big guy was saddled by some second-half foul trouble which limited him to just 22 minutes of playing time.

Junior guard Kieran Hamilton (Queens Village, N.Y.) paced the Bears with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Hamilton, who started his career at Division III Western Connecticut State, totaled 14 second-half points and converted all seven of his free throw attempts in the game. Junior forward Jeffrey Hayden, who entered the weekend as the ECC's leading scorer at 22.3 points per game, was held to 15 points today while playing all 40 minutes. The 6-foot-4 Hayden shot 7-for-18 from the field. Junior guard Tyler Ancrum (Bridgeport, Conn.) reached double figures with 10 points, and freshmen Luis Cartagena, Jr. (White Plains, N.Y.) and Laurynas Stonkus (Klaipeda, Lithuania) each played key roles with eight points apiece, all in the second half.

The teams opened the game by trading the lead six times in the first five minutes. Garvin's three-pointer at the 15:28 mark put the Wildcats on top 14-12, establishing a lead they would never relinquish. Another Daemen triple, one of eight in the opening stanza, by Melvin Grayson (Rochester, N.Y.) provided the first double-figure margin of the game as the Wildcats led 32-22 with 8:13 remaining in the period. The Wildcat advantage grew to 19 points (50-31) when Harris and Garvin connected on back-to-back triples, before Hamilton answered with a trifecta in the final minute, sending the teams to the locker room with Daemen leading 50-34.

An early second-half blitz saw Daemen score 16 of the first 22 points in the period, opening up their largest lead of the game. Sischo was featured early and often, totaling nine points in the spurt which was capped by Garvin's free throws at the 14:34 mark.

Sischo went to the bench a short time later after picking up his third foul, and NYIT took advantage of the big man's absence. The Wildcat offense sputtered with seven turnovers over the next five-and-a-half minutes, allowing NYIT to make deep cuts into the deficit. A 14-0 NYIT run, keyed by eight consecutive points by Stonkus, brought the Bears within single digits, trailing 72-64 with under eight minutes to play. Sischo briefly returned, but quickly picked up his fourth personal foul during the spurt which sent him back to the pine.

Daemen briefly regained a double-figure advantage when Harris converted two free throws at the 5:10 mark, making the score 78-67. But NYIT responded with seven straight points, trimming the Daemen lead to 78-74 on Hamilton's free throws at the 3:53 mark. Daemen came back with a Sarkis layup and, following a defensive stop, Harris' second three-pointer of the game to provide some breathing room (83-74).

The Bears got within two possessions (85-79) one last time when Hamilton made all three free throws at the 2:03 mark after he was hacked while shooting from behind the arc. But, Daemen got a layup by Aleks Miljenovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and shot 6-of-8 at the charity stripe in the final 180 seconds to seal the deal. Garvin accounted for five of the made free throws down the stretch.

Daemen enjoyed 53.4 percent shooting for the game (31-for-58), including 10-of-16 from downtown (62.5%). The Wildcats also canned 21 of their 27 free throw attempts (77.8%). The Wildcats won the rebound battle 42-26, and turned 12 offensive rebounds into a 16-6 advantage in second-chance points.

NYIT shot 47.8 percent from the field (32-for-67) and 42.9 percent from three-point range (6-for-14). The Bears turned 19 Daemen turnovers into a huge 30-15 edge in points off miscues.

With the win, Daemen improved to 7-2 at home this season. Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 77-12 in games played at Lumsden Gymnasium. The win was also Daemen's fifth straight in the all-time series with NYIT which the Wildcats now lead 6-3.

Today's game closed out the Wildcats' brief three-game homestand, all of which came in the last five days. The Wildcats are back in action next Friday, Jan. 19 with an ECC road game vs. Molloy College.



 
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