SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio - The Daemen Wildcats snapped a six-game losing streak on Tuesday night as they opened their 2010-2011 American Mideast Conference schedule with a 77-69 win over defending conference champion Notre Dame College in South Euclid, OH.  In the process, Daemen (3-6, 1-0) snapped a three-game losing streak against the Falcons and picked up their first win at Murphy Gymasium since 2006.

Both teams came out of the gates shooting well, with the Wildcats hitting six of their first 10 shots, and the Falcons draining five of their first nine. The Falcons led by as many as seven points in the opening stanza, and used a 19-11 rebounding edge, to take a four point lead into the locker room at the half.

Notre Dame was able to mount a pair of seven point leads in the first two minutes of the second half, and held a 41-34 advantage, before the Wildcats caught fire. Daemen went on a 13-4 run over the next four minutes to take the lead.

After Notre Dame's Rodney Mickens cut the Daemen lead to 56-53 with a conventional three-point play at the 7:30 mark, the Wildcats defense held the host Falcons without a field goal over the next five and a half minutes.  Daemen outscored the Falcons 10-1 over that stretch to pull away.

Senior forward Khorri Silcott led the way for Daemen as he pumped in a career-high 22 points while matching a career-high 12 rebounds.  Junior Dominic Mazzocchi added 18 points and four boards while senior Mujeeb Oridami chipped in with 16 points.

Daemen got great contributions off the bench from junior Chandler Williams as well as from freshmen Mark Coppola and Aaron Davis.  Williams gave the Daemen frontcourt a spark in the second half with six points and two rebounds.  The dimuntive Coppola made his presence felt all over the court as he fastbreaked Daemen's offense to much of their 49 second half points while frustrating Notre Dame's guards with his pressure defense.  Coppola finished with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.  Davis continues to shoot the ball well from deep, hitting two-of-four from three-point range on his way to eight points on the night.

The loss spoiled a tremendous effort from Notre Dame's Eric Dummermuth who scored a game-high 36 points while pulling down 19 rebounds.

Daemen returns home this Saturday where they'll face Walsh University (OH) who is the newly ranked #1 team in the country.  Tip-off is slated for 4pm.