WEST MIFFLIN, PA - After trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, the Daemen Wildcats out-scored the host Point Park Pioneers 19-15 in the final 5:46 to pull out a key 82-78 road victory today at the CCAC South Gymnasium. The win keeps Daemen (15-9, 7-1 AMC) in first place in the AMC standing by one game in the loss column while pushing their overall record to a season-best six games over .500. The win is also Daemen's fourth straight - their first such streak of the year - and their seventh in their last eight outings; they close this season-long five-game road swing with a 4-1 mark. Point Park, the top scoring team in all of NAIA II at over 92 points per game, falls to 9-9, 2-4.

"This is a very satisfying win, especially considering the way we lost here last year," said Daemen head coach Don Silveri, referring to Point Park's 88-87 come-from-behind win which eliminated Daemen from post-season contention, in which the Wildcats blew a 24-point lead. "We knew they would be up for us and they played hard for 40 minutes. We just made a few more plays down the stretch than they did. This was truly a great victory for our team."

In a back-and-forth first half that saw nine lead changes and four ties, the Pioneers closed the half on a 6-0 spurt to lead 41-36 at intermission. Each team played well offensively with Daemen connecting on 49% from the field (16-for-33), despite a 1-for-10 showing from three-point range, and the hosts drilling 45% of their attempts (18-for-40).

Point Park continued the momentum it built to close the first with an extended run to open the second. The Pioneers out-scored Daemen 13-7 over the first 7:16 of the half. Reserve forward Eric Johnson capped the run with a layup at 12:44 to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the night, 54-43, and prompting a Daemen timeout.


Out of the timeout, Daemen responded with a quick spurt of their own, scoring nine unanswered in a span of just 2:05. Keying the run were Daemen's reserves as the Wildcats got buckets from freshman Gerald Beverly and seniors Chandler Williams and Devon Dawson, along with starter Casey Sheehan. Dawson's old-fashioned three-point play with 10:28 to play capped the spurt and cut the deficit to just two, 54-52.

Point Park ran the lead back to seven, at 60-53, before Daemen responded again. Dawson's steal at 6:58 led to a bucket by senior Dom Mazzocchi which knotted the score at 63-all - the first time Daemen had tied or led since the 1:52 mark of the first half.

Junior forward Jim Regan gave the Wildcats their first lead of the second half with a jumper at the 5:46 mark. From there, the score was tied on three occasions and Point Park held slim leads at 68-67, 71-69 and 73-71. A three-pointer from Mazzocchi with 2:21 to play gave Daemen the lead at 74-73 - a lead they would not relinquish. After back-to-back empty possessions by the Pioneers, Mazzocchi struck again as his layup upped the Daemen lead to three, 76-73. From there, the Wildcats would lead by as many as five points on three occasions in the final 51 seconds, shooting 4-for-6 from the charity stripe to help seal the deal.

Regan led the way once again for Daemen, scoring 19 points on 9-for-18 shooting along with eight rebounds. Mazzocchi canned 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds as well. Dawson contributed 13 points off the bench and sophomore Kadeem Johnson scored nine of his 12 points in the opening frame.

Point Park's Johnson led the Pioneers with 17 points and eight rebounds. Robbie Heatherington added 16 points, but was held to 7-for-25 shooting.

Daemen also got key performances from their starting backcourt - Sheehan and Mark Coppola. Sheehan had a fine floor game with eight points, seven assists and a career-high 13 rebounds. Coppola, whose contributions don't always show up on the stat sheet, was vital on Daemen's defensive effort which limited guard T.J. Heatherington, the leading scorer in NAIA II, to just 14 points on 5-for-19 shooting. The diminutive Coppola did so after being bloodied in the first half diving on the floor for a loose ball, creating a cut above his left eye which required 15 stitches after the game.

Next up for Daemen is a home date vs. conference rival Roberts Wesleyan on Tuesday at 7:30. The game will be Daemen's first at home since January 12.