AMHERST, NY - Junior forward Jim Regan (Williamsville, NY/Nichols HS) had a career night and the Daemen Wildcats used 72% shooting from the field in the opening half (18-for-25) and a season-best 62% shooting for the game (33-for-53) to race past the visiting Wilberforce Bulldogs 89-70 tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium.  With the win, Daemen (10-8 overall, 4-0 in conference) assumes full control of first place in the American Mideast Conference as they hand Wilberforce (5-13, 2-1) its' first loss in conference play.

Regan led the way for Daemen with a career-best 26 points to go along with a game-high seven rebounds.  17 of Regan's tallies came in the opening half and he finished the game shooting 10-of-13 from the field.  The 6'7" forward, who can go inside and out, has quite a string of games going as he's shot 50% or better from the field in eight of his last nine outings and is averaging 15.6 points per game in that stretch.  Tonight's performance was his third 20+ point game in his last four outings.

After the game his coach was quick to applaud his play, "What more can you say about the way Jim is playing," said head coach Don Silveri.  "I'm happy for Jim because he's experienced some ups and downs since arriving on campus.  But, even through the tough times, he kept working and we've always believed in the kind of player he can be.  He's certainly proving to people that he's the real deal."

Regan wasn't alone in what Silveri called "a complete team effort tonight."  Senior Devon Dawson (Buffalo, NY/St. Joe's HS) seems to have relished his new role of super-sub, coming off the bench to pour in 15 points to go with five rebounds.  Sophomore point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South HS) had his fourth double-figure scoring game of the season with 11 to go with a game-high six assists and two steals.  Also reaching double figures was sophomore Casey Sheehan (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena HS) and senior Dom Mazzocchi (Geneva, NY/Finger Lakes CC) who split 20 points between them.

The Wildcats led by as many as 12 points in the opening stanza before taking a 49-39 lead into halftime.  Daemen's point production was a season-high for the first half.

After Wilberforce cut into the Daemen lead at the outset of the second half (Daemen led 53-48 with 16:08 remaining), the Wildcats scored the next 16 points and established their largest lead of the night at 69-48 with 11:31 to play.  From there, the Bulldogs never got closer than 13 and they never seriously threatened the Daemen edge.

Wilberforce did get solid offensive performances from Darius Foster, who shot 12-for-12 from the charity stripe as part of his 22 points, and Chris Olafioye who connected on 8-of-14 from the field for 17 points.

Next up for Daemen is a key stretch of five consecutive road games, four of which are conference tilts.  The Wildcats kickoff that stretch with a rematch of last Saturday's thriller vs. Walsh next Tuesday, January 17.  The Wildcats return home on January 31 when they host rival Roberts Wesleyan.