LAS VEGAS, NV - After leading by as many as 12 points in the second half, the Daemen Wildcats didn't have enough left in the tank to close out the Great Falls Argos of NAIA I, dropping a 71-63 decision in overtime on day two of the Las Vegas Shootout.  With all five starters playing more than 32 minutes, and two playing forty-plus, a fatigued Wildcat squad saw their lead dwindled down the stretch before succumbing in the five-minute overtime period in which they managed just 1-for-13 shooting from the field.  With the win, Great Falls, who was receiving votes in the latest NAIA I National Poll, improves to 12-2 while Daemen falls to 8-7.

"We just ran out of gas tonight - no question about it," said Daemen head coach Don Silveri.  "We're a little short-handed at the guard spot right now, playing without (Casey) Sheehan and we just didn't get much production out of our bench which forced us to play the starters more minutes than I would like.  It was evident that our guys were tired, especially in overtime."

The Argos' bench came through with 31 points compared to just nine for Daemen while also out-scoring the Wildcats 36-18 in the paint.  After Daemen developed a nice offensive rhythm against the Argos' 2-3 zone defense, Great Falls switched it up and smothered Daemen with a hard man-to-man defense.

"You have to give all the credit to Great Falls," Silveri added.  "They came out of their primary defense and took it to us with that man-to-man."

After a three-pointer from Daemen's Dom Mazzocchi (Geneva, NY/Finger Lakes CC) put the Wildcats ahead 46-36 at the 13:37 mark, the Argos nearly erased the entire deficit, going on an 8-0 run in the span of just 1:48.

Daemen remained resilient, however, and never relinquished the lead until UGF's Marcel Towns drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at 59-59 with 1:34 to play.  Each team had two chances in the final minute and a half of regulation to break the tie but came up empty and the game headed to OT.

In the overtime, Daemen's Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, NY/Henninger HS) opened the scoring with a 1-of-2 showing at the free throw line to give Daemen a brief one-point lead, at 60-59.  However, center Ken Anderson gave the Argos their first lead since they led 4-2 to open the game with a bucket inside.  From there, Great Falls extended the lead as Daemen kept misfiring on shot after shot.  All told, after taking 59-53 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play from freshman Gerald Beverly (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili HS) at the 4:37 mark or regulation, the Wildcats managed just four points on 1-of-19 shooting from the field.

Anderson led a balanced scoring effort for the Argos, finishing with 13 points go with eight rebounds.  Leon Sutton scored 12 off the bench while Towns and point guard Melvin Williams split 22.  Towns added 10 rebounds and five assists in a great all-around performance.

Mazzocchi was brilliant most of the way for Daemen, finishing with 21 points, most of which came from deep as he canned six treys on the night.  It was his first 20+ point outing in his last six games and his first double-double of the season as well as he added 10 boards.

Sophomore Mark Coppola (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South HS) connected on a career-best four three-pointers for 12 points and added five assists in 44 minutes of action.  Beverly chipped in with nine points and five rebounds.  Johnson and junior Jim Regan (Williamsville, NY/Nichols HS) were strong on the boards as well with nine and seven caroms, respectively, helping Daemen win the battle of the backboard 44-41.

Daemen has little time to lick its' wounds as they face Lindenwood (MO) tomorrow on the final day of the Shootout.  Lindenwood comes into tomorrow's game with an overall record of 12-1 and have won nine straight games.