AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen missed upsetting #1 in the nation Walsh University by a matter of inches as MJ Oridami's 24-foot three-point attempt at the buzzer was on-line but just a few inches long in a 66-64 loss. Oridami had hit two three-pointers in the last two minutes to give the Wildcats a shot in their last two possessions. He hit a three with 26 seconds left to make the score 66-64. Walsh missed two free throws to give Daemen a chance but
Casey Sheehan's three-point attempt with 15 seconds left was straight-on but caught just a little too much of the back rim and ricochet to the front rim and out. Walsh missed two more free throws with seven seconds left to give Daemen one more chance at the buzzer.
The score was extremely close throughout the contest as neither team held more than a six-point lead during the last 31 minutes. Daemen started the game cold and trailed 13-5 with 12:21 left in the first half. They scored the next eight points capped by a
Khorri Silcott jumper to tie the score at 13. Walsh held a slim lead the rest of the half until
Aaron Davis's jumper tied the score at 31 to end the half.
There were five lead changes in the first four minutes of the second half. Daemen led 51-50 with 9:02 left but Jeremy Shardo scored seven of Walsh's nine points in a 9-2 run that gave them a 59-53 lead with 6:23 left. Walsh led 63-57 with just over two minutes left before Oridami scored six of seven Daemen points to cut the lead to two with 26 seconds left.
Moustapha Baidy led Daemen with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Khorri Silcott led in rebounds with 10 and added six points.
Casey Sheehan had nine points and three assists. MJ Oridami and
Aaron Davis each added eight points.
Mark Coppola led in assists with five.
Walsh (7-0, 3-0) was led by Jeremy Shardo (21 points 5 rebounds), Kenny Kornowski (12 points, 8 rebounds), and LJ Sutton (11 points).
Daemen outrebounded Walsh 35-34 and forced 14 turnovers to their 10. But they did not have a good shooting night hitting 35.6% (21-59) from the field, 29.2% (7-24) from three-point range, and 57.7% (15-26 from the free throw line.
Daemen is now 3-7 overall and 1-1 in the AMC. They have played three top five teams and six top 25 teams.
The Wildcats play at Roberts Wesleyan on Tuesday at 8:00pm.
