FLUSHING, N.Y. – Solid outside shooting and a balanced scoring attack lifted the Daemen College men's basketball team to an 81-70 victory over Queens College here today in East Coast Conference action. Daemen, which is ranked 10th in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll, ran its winning streak to eight-straight games and improved to 13-6 overall and 7-2 in the ECC. The Wildcats maintained their hold on third place in the ECC standings. Queens has now lost four of its last five games and dropped to 5-10 overall and 3-5 in the league.
The eight-straight wins are the most since the Wildcats posted nine-straight during the 2015-16 season.
Redshirt sophomore Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) connected on 5-of-12 three-pointers and totaled 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Redshirt freshman Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) added 17 points and 12 rebounds—his fourth double-double of the year. He has now scored in double figures in 11-straight games. Junior Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) canned 7-of-8 free throws and also scored 17 points.
Redshirt senior Aleks Miljenovic (Belgrade, Serbia) contributed 10 points in just 15 minutes off the bench, while redshirt sophomore guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) added eight points and a career-high 11 assists. It marked the first time since the 2014-15 season that a Daemen player has registered 10 or more assists in a game. Sophomore Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) also played a big role and totaled nine points, five rebounds and four steals.
Senior Tyrone Hall (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the Knights with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while classmate Simon Green (Harlem, N.Y.) added 16 points.
The teams traded baskets early in the game and Daemen held a 12-11 lead seven minutes into the game when the Wildcats put together a 12-3 run. Miljenovic sparked the run with three-straight jumpers, and back-to-back three-pointers by Redband and Sarkis capped it and gave the visitors a 24-14 lead. The lead was still 10 points, 26-16, with just under five minutes left in the half when Redband connected on three unanswered three-pointers. The last one came with 3:06 left in the half and gave the Wildcats a 35-16 lead. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half and Sischo capped the half with a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Daemen a 46-28 halftime lead.
The Wildcats maintained a comfortable lead for most of the second half, before the Knights mounted a late rally. The lead was 16 points, 79-63, with just over minute left when Queens scored seven unanswered points to make it a 79-70 game. Garvin canned two free throws with 21 seconds left, and Harris secured the win with his fourth steal of the game 10 seconds later.
Daemen shot 48-percent (30-for-63) from the field overall and drained 11-of-27 from three-point land. It marked the fourth time in the last seven games the Wildcats have made 10 or more three-pointers in a game. Daemen also connected on 10-of-12 free throws. The hosts shot just 32-percent (8-for-25) from the field in the first half and finished 22-for-55 (40%) from the field overall. The Knights made 12-of-32 from downtown and canned 14-of-17 from the charity stripe. Daemen finished with a commanding 43-27 edge in total rebounds. The visitors grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, which led to a 10-2 edge in second-chance points. Daemen also finished with a 14-7 edge in points-off-turnovers and a 36-20 advantage in points-in-the-paint.
The Wildcats are idle until Friday (Jan. 26) when they host Mercy College in an ECC game.
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