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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
sischo mbb vs bridgeport 2018 30
Andrew Sischo recorded the sixth double-double of his career this evening
70
Roberts Wesleyan RWCM 14-9, 7-7 ECC
77
Winner Daemen DAEM 17-7, 11-3 ECC
Roberts Wesleyan RWCM
14-9, 7-7 ECC
70
Final
77
Daemen DAEM
17-7, 11-3 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Roberts Wesleyan RWCM 33 37 70
Daemen DAEM 41 36 77

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

Wildcats Outlast Redhawks For 14th Straight Thruway Rivalry Win

AMHERST, N.Y. - Aleks Miljenovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) combined for 37 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Daemen College men's basketball team to a 77-70 victory here tonight over Roberts Wesleyan College in a key East Coast Conference contest. The Wildcats outscored the Redhawks 18-10 in the final seven minutes of the game, securing their 14th consecutive win in the series with their longtime rivals from Rochester.

With the win, Daemen improved to 17-7 on the season, including an 11-3 mark in league play which maintains their grip on third place in the ECC standings. With previous results from around the league earlier this week, Daemen had already clinched their third consecutive ECC Tournament berth, and tonight's victory solidifies a top-four finish in the standings with still four games remaining on the docket. The Wildcats, ranked sixth in this week's D2SIDA East Region poll, have won 12 of their last 13 games dating back to Dec. 31.

Roberts Wesleyan, which has already more than quadrupled their win total from last season when they finished 3-24, dropped to 14-9 overall and 7-7 in the league. The Redhawks have lost four of their last five outings, three of which were just single-digit spreads.

Miljenovic, who started his collegiate career by playing two seasons at Roberts Wesleyan, was magnificent against his former mates as he came off the bench to put up a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The 6-foot-6 redshirt senior forward added four rebounds and a block in 24 minutes of action while reaching double-figure scoring for the 12th time this season. Sischo, a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week honoree, posted his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 18 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman canned 5-of-8 field goal attempts and 8-of-11 free throws en route to his 16th consecutive game in double figures. 

Redshirt sophomore guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) reached double figures as well, finishing with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Junior guard Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.) and sophomore guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) put up nine points apiece, and redshirt sophomore forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) chipped in with seven points, five rebounds and a team-best four assists. Harris added a trio of steals to his stat line giving him 51 for the season. He becomes the first Daemen player to reach 50 steals in a season since Casey Sheehan (68) and Mark Coppola (57) both did so during the 2012-13 season.

Senior guard/forward Manny Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was electric for the Redhawks, finishing with a game-high 25 points to go with eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals. Joseph, who led RWC in scoring last season at 13.6 points per game, entered tonight's game averaging 8.5 points this season. Joseph snapped a six-game streak of single-digit scoring and eclipsed his previous season-high by 10 points. 

Senior forward Malik Dare (Cohoes, N.Y.) also turned in a season-best effort for coach Rob McCoy's squad, scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds in 24 minutes of action. Dare had scored just two points over the Redhawks' previous five games. Freshman guard/forward Gintaras Bartaskas (Utena, Lithuania) knocked down a trio of three-pointers (nine points) and junior forward/center Jean Toussaint (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in eight points and four boards.

The game started quickly with six lead changes in the first five minutes as both teams came out of the gates with strong shooting. RWC held a 19-17 lead when Daemen ran off an 11-2 spurt to seize control. Sischo's free throws at the 10:36 mark evened things up, and field goals by Garvin, Sarks (three-pointer) and Miljenovic (back-to-back hoops) followed as Daemen grabbed a 28-21 lead with 7:00 to go in the period. 

The teams went to the under-four-minute media timeout with Daemen leading 36-31, and the Wildcats emerged from the break with a Sarkis triple at the 2:01 mark. Dwayne Roberts (Rochester, N.Y.) connected on his second athletic finish of the half for Roberts, but Redband's layup on an offensive rebound opportunity sent the teams to their locker rooms with the hosts ahead by eight (41-33).

Daemen threatened to make it a runaway, opening up a 12-point lead early in the second half. Harris' jumper at the 17:19 mark put the Wildcats on top 49-37. But, the Redhawks battled back. They pulled within five points (49-44) on a layup by Joseph at the 13:49 mark. After Daemen extended back to a nine-point lead, the Redhawks cut the deficit to four (53-49) on Joseph's three-pointer with 11:36 to go. Again, Daemen pushed the lead back to eight. The Redhawks responded with a 10-1 spurt. Another trey-ball by Joseph pulled the Redhawks within one (58-57) at the 7:40 mark. His steal and breakaway dunk on the next possession gave the Redhawks their first lead (59-58) in over 23 minutes of game action. 

Daemen regained the lead with Harris' floated in the lane at the 6:53 mark, a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. The Wildcats advantage grew to six points (65-59) following a pair of Sischo free throws with 4:32 to go, but Bartaskas trimmed that in half with a three-ball just eight seconds later. The Redhawks would ultimately trail by three points on three separate occasions down the stretch, but couldn't get any closer. The final time, Sischo answered with an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:18 left to put Daemen ahead 72-66. RWC never got within a single possession's difference from there.

Daemen shot 51.8 percent from the field (29-for-56) - the 11th time this season they've made better than half their attempts. After a hot start from long distance (5-for-10), the Wildcats cooled and missed their final nine three-point attempts, but made up for it with 70 percent free throw shooting (14-for-20). 

The Redhawks were held to just 40.6 percent shooting (28-for-69), but outscored Daemen from three-point line by shooting 9-of-27 from there. RWC went to the charity stripe just seven times, knocking down five.

Daemen's final regular-season homestand continues next Friday, Feb. 16 when Molloy College visits Lumsden Gymnasium.
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