AMHERST, N.Y. – A 19-7 run over the final 6:45 of the game lifted the Daemen College men's basketball team to a 69-57 victory over Queens College here today in East Coast Conference men's basketball action. Daemen, which is ranked in both the NCAA East Region poll and the D2SIDA East Region poll, improved to 19-7 overall and 13-3 in league play. The Wildcats have now posted at least 19 wins in each of the last seven seasons. Queens, which is now winless in five trips to Lumsden Gymnasium, saw its three-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 8-15 overall and 6-10 in the ECC.
The Wildcats keep their hopes for a top-two finish in the final ECC standings alive. Winners in 14 of their last 15 outings, the Wildcats have already clinched their third straight conference tournament berth and a top-three finish, but can still finish in a tie with Saint Thomas Aquinas College (23-6, 14-3 ECC) for second place. If that happens a coin flip tiebreaker scenario will come into play, with the winner receiving the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinal round.
Today's game marked the final regular-season home game, and seniors Giambattista Davis (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Aleks Miljenovic (Belgrade, Serbia) were honored in a pre-game ceremony.
Redshirt freshman Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) and sophomore Breon Harris (Niagara Fall, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats today. Sischo scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half and also grabbed six rebounds. Harris had a huge four-point play late in the game and finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Junior Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.) hit a key three-pointer late in the game and finished with 11 points, while redshirt sophomore Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) added nine points.
Davis made his first career start and finished with six points in 11 minutes, while Miljenovic totaled four points and four rebounds in his final regular-season home game.
Four players scored in double figures for Queens. Freshman Dwayne Henry (Woodstock, N.Y.) led the way with 13 points, while classmate Tyrese Crosdale (Bronx, N.Y.) added 10 points and five rebounds.
Queens held a 9-7 lead five minutes into the game when the Knights put together a 7-2 run and opened its largest lead of the first half, 16-9, following a layup by Henry with just over 12 minutes left before intermission. Back-to-back buckets by Harris cut the lead to three points, 16-13, and the Wildcats eventually tied the game at 21-21 following a jumper by Sischo with 6:33 left in the half. Henry gave the Knights a 28-25 lead with a three-pointer with 3:08 left in the half, and neither team scored again over the final three minutes.
Daemen took a 29-28 after opening the second half with back-to-back layups by Sischo and Garvin, but Queens answered with a three-pointer by sophomore Issac Grant (Jamaica, N.Y.) and the visitors later took a seven-point lead, 42-35, following a layup by Henry with 12:14 to play. The Queens lead was still seven points, 47-40, when Garvin drained a three-pointer—Daemen's first triple of the game after missing their first 11 long-range attempts. That three-pointer would be followed by seven unanswered points, and a layup by Sischo off a nice feed from Harris with 7:42 left gave Daemen a 50-47 lead. Queens tied the game at 50 following a triple by junior Jordan Curtis (Roosevelt, N.Y.), but the Wildcats took the lead for good moments later following a three-pointer by Davis.
Daemen had a four-point lead, 59-55, when Harris was hacked while making a three-pointer. He canned the ensuing free throw for a 63-55 lead with just over two minutes to play, and Queens came no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Daemen shot 60-percent (15-for-25) from the field in the second half and finished 26-for-52 (50%) from the field overall. It marked the 12th time this season the Wildcats have shot 50-percent or better in a game. After missing their first 11 three-point attempts, the Wildcats went 4-for-5 from long range down the stretch. The Wildcats canned 13-of-21 free throws. The Knights shot 38-percent (23-for-60) from the field overall and made 8-of-27 from three-point land. Queens attempted 10 free throws and made just three. Queens finished with a 37-32 edge in total rebounds, and the visitors also posted an advantage in second-chance points (14-8). Daemen finished and edge in points off turnovers (15-10), points in the paint (36-22) and fast break points (6-0).
The Wildcats close out the regular-season next weekend with ECC games at Long Island University Post (Feb. 23) and New York Institute of Technology (Feb. 25).
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