Score By Periods	1st	2nd	Total
Daemen	39	56	95
Newberry	42	55	97

SALEM, W. Va. - A valiant second half comeback attempt by the Daemen College men's basketball team fell just short today as the Wildcats dropped a high-scoring 97-95 thriller to Newberry College tonight on day two of the Joe Manchin Classic hosted by Salem International University.

Daemen, which trailed by as many 16 in the second half, cut the deficit to two in the final minute of the contest and had a shot to win it at the buzzer, but a 25-foot three-point attempt by junior guard Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) was off the mark, sending the Wolves (4-4) to their 4th win of the season while Daemen dropped to 11-4.

The loss spoiled faboulous outings from the Wildcats' Sheehan and sophomore forward Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls).  One night after pumping in 25 points in Daemen's 86-66 win over Salem International, Sheehan dumped a career-high 27 points on the Wolves, connecting on 8-of-16 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.  Greene added a career-best 28 points, also on 8-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-12 from three-point range.

The Sheehan-Greene duo drove the Daemen offense all night in the absence of sophomore center and leading scorer Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili).  Beverly was saddled by foul trouble all game long after picking up two early fouls in each half.  He still managed 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in just 10 minutes of action, but the Wildcats missed his presence down low on both ends of the floor.

With Daemen leading 26-21 about midway through the first half, Newberry used an 11-4 run to grab control.  A dunk by Dondray Walker at the 5:14 mark gave the Wolves just their third lead of the half at 32-30. 

After a Sheehan free throw, Newberry rattled off a 10-1 run to lead 42-32 with 1:56 left in the opening frame.  Daemen responded by scoring the last seven points of the half, including a trey-ball from Greene, to trail just 42-39 at the half. 

Newberry then outscored the Wildcats 17-5 near the start of the second half to open up a 60-46 lead with 15:49 remaining.  Back-to-back threes from Mitch Riggs and Aegir Steinarsson punctuated the run for the Wolves.

The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes and Newberry ran their lead up to 16 on two ocassions - first on a layup by Brandon Riley at the 12:31 mark to make the score 72-56 and later, at 10:29, on another Riggs three-pointer (78-62).

Trailing 85-71, Daemen began to make their way back in it, using a 13-2 spurt to cut the deficit to just three at 87-84 with 5:22 to play.  Sheehan's old-fashioned three-point play got the ball rolling as did four points from junior forward Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger).  Also keying the Daemen spurt was junior guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) who had a steal and subsequent fastbreak layup before finding red-shirt sophomore Aaron Davis (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) with a nifty feed for a layup at the 5:39 mark.

Newberry regained control by scoring four quick points to run their lead back to seven (91-84) with 3:43 to play.

Daemen chipped away again and two free throws each from Sheehan and Greene cut the deficit to three at 91-88 with 2:53 remaining.

After a Quayshun Hawkins basket for Newberry, Sheehan banged home one of his four triples on the night to make the score 93-91 at the 2:28 mark.

From there, as was the case for much of the game, Daemen struggled to keep Newberry out of the paint as the Wolves converted several drives to the basket.  Daemen cut the lead to two on two ocassions in the final minutes but turnovers proved costly to the Wildcat cause in key spots.

Trailing by two (97-95) with 11 ticks remaining, Daemen had the ball out of bounds in the frontcourt but turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play.  Steinarsson was fouled after picking up the steal and went to the line with seven seconds left to try and seal the deal for Newberry.  His two freebies were off the mark leaving hope for Daemen.  Coppola fired the ball up the left sideline to Sheehan whose pull-up game-winning attempt was off the mark.

Hawkins led the way for Newberry with 22 points while converting nine of his 10 opportunities from the charity stripe.  Riggs chipped in 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 4-of-6 from three-point range.  Hawkins and Riggs accounted for seven of Newberry's 12 threes on the night as the Wolves shot 43% from the land of plenty (12-for-28).

Steinarsson added 12 points, five assists and four steals while Walker contributed 11 points and five boards.

Daemen got back into the game by converting their free throw opportunities in the second half.  After shooting 8-of-15 in the opening stanza (53%), the Wildcats connected on 20-of-23 (87%) in the second half.  But, 19 turnovers and Newberry's 26 offensive rebounds proved too much for Daemen to overcome.

Jim Regan (Williamsville, N.Y./Nichols) had seven points, three steals and a team-high nine rebounds for Daemen.  The 6'7" senior forward now stands just 11 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Coppola dished off five assists and swiped three steals to go with seven points and Johnson added six points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Wildcats.

A short turn-around time has Daemen returning to action this Tuesday, December 11 on the road at rival Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y.  The Wildcats and Redhawks have long been battling it out as members of the NAIA and their rivalry assumes a new era as both schools are progressing through the NCAA Division II membership process while also joining the East Coast Conference.  The Redhawks (4-4) were 84-79 winners today at home against Mercy College in their ECC opener.  Tipoff on Tuesday is slated for 7:00 p.m.