ERIE, PA - For the first time in 10 chances the Daemen Wildcats came away with a win against Gannon University of NCAA II, scoring a hard fought 67-65 victory before 1,119 fans at the Hammermill Center on day one of the 28th Annual Gary Miller Classic.  The win snaps a two-game losing skid as Daemen jumps back over .500 at 4-3. Gannon falls to 1-2 after suffering their first loss to an NAIA opponent since 1990.

"It's a great feeling to come down here and pick up a win against a quality opponent. They had won 24 in a row against NAIA opponents until tonight," said Daemen head coach Don Silveri. "We were able to take the air out of the ball and slow them down a little bit with our zone defense. Offensively, we really grinded them for the full 40 minutes."

Junior Jim Regan (Williamsville, NY/Nichols HS) came through with his biggest effort of the season with 17 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior Dom Mazzocchi (Geneva, NY/Finger Lakes CC) added 12 points to go with a team-best seven rebounds and four steals.

Both Regan and Mazzocchi hit big three-point shots late in the ball game with the shot clock winding down. Mazzocchi canned his trey bomb at 6:07 to put the Wildcats ahead 53-44. Regan's clutch shot came with 2:58 remaining to put Daemen ahead 61-51. The Wildcats led by as many as 12 points in the second half before fending off a frantic Gannon run in the final minutes.

Darrell Blanton led Gannon with a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Tanner Furno tossed in 17 off the bench for the Golden Knights.

Daemen sophomore Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, NY/Henninger HS), who made the first start of his career, scored 10 points while grabbing four boards as well. The Wildcats also got solid play out of their point guard position as sophomores Mark Coppola (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South HS) and Casey Sheehan (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena HS) split 18 points. Coppola added his usual six assists as well.

Daemen goes for the tournament championship tomorrow against another DII opponent in the Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats at 7:30 tomorrow night. The Mountain Cats scored a 82-66 win over Roberts Wesleyan in the day's opening game.