FORT KENT, ME - What was a three-point game at halftime turned into a second half rout as the Daemen Wildcats improved to 2-1 on the young season with a 91-68 win over the Maine-Machias Clippers on day two of the Bengal Basketball Classic hosted by the University of Maine-Fort Kent. The Clippers were hard luck losers the night before, falling to the host Bengals in overtime and it looked as if they ran out of gas this afternoon as Daemen employed a 45-25 second half, while holding UMM to 31% shooting in the period, to run away with the game.
"I think we learned a lot about our team today," said veteran bench boss Don Silveri. "We were hampered with foul trouble in the first half and our bench really stepped up. When we come to play we can be a very deep team."
The Wildcats actually trailed in the first half, by as many as eight points, but the reserves were able to stem the tide. All 11 Daemen players scored and the bench accounted for 46 points, compared to just 20 points off the Clipper bench.
Sophomore
Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, NY/Henninger HS) provided a big spark off the Wildcat bench and led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with five rebounds.
Five other Wildcats reached double figures led by freshman
Gerald Beverly (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili HS) who finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Senior
Dom Mazzocchi (Geneva, NY/Finger Lakes CC) and sophomores
Casey Sheehan (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena HS),
Troy Nowak (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park HS) and
Mark Coppola (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South HS) each scored 10 points. Coppola's point total was a career-high and the ultra-quick point guard added a career-high 14 assists for the first double-double of his career.
The Wildcats also got solid production off the bench from seniors
Devon Dawson (Buffalo, NY/St. Joe's HS) and
Chandler Williams (Buffalo, NY/McKinley HS) as well as freshmen
Jordan Greene (Ft. Edward, NY/South Glens Falls HS) and
Samuel Ouedraogo (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso/TCI).
Zach Armstrong paced the Clippers with a game-high 16 points. Hampton Mack added 14 while Will Lewis notched 10.
The Wildcats return to the court tomorrow afternoon when they face the host Maine-Fort Kent Bengals at 2pm.
