AMHERST, NY - Senior Dom Mazzocchi came up with a clutch second half performance to lead the Daemen Wildcats to a hard-fought 66-61 victory tonight over the visiting Houghton Highlanders at Lumsden Gymnasium, securing the #1 seed and home court advantage in the upcoming American Mideast Conference Tournament in the process.  Mazzocchi canned 7-of-9 from the field, including all three of his three-point attempts in the pivotal second half, en route to a game-high 31 points - his second 30+ point game of the season.

"We were certainly rusty early on after not having played a game in 10 days," said Daemen head coach Don Silveri.  "But, we rebounded well (47-36 edge on the glass) and we shot 52% in the second half.  Good teams find ways to win."

After trailing by four at the half (30-26), Daemen took control of the game with a 13-4 run.  Sophomore Kadeem Johnson got things started with a bucket at the 11:12 mark to tie the game at 43-all, marking the 10th, and eventually final tie of the game.  Daemen would then score 11 of the next 15 points, including two Mazzocchi trey-balls and jumper by junior Jim Regan, to lead 54-47 with 6:53 to play.

Houghton would not go away, however, as they continued to chip away, cutting the Daemen lead to one, at 54-53, after back-to-back three-pointers by Mark O'Brien and Mike Munoz.  Daemen would then force eight consecutive Houghton misses, turning that one-point advantage into an eight-point lead, at 61-53 with 1:57 remaining.

Daemen converted 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final 1:57, with Mazzocchi converting all four of his attempts and Houghton never got the game within one-possession.

The win gives Daemen a 17-10 mark for the season and a 9-2 record in conference play.  A valiant effort from Houghton went for naught as the Highlanders drop to 9-17, 2-10 on the season.

After Mazzocchi's 31, only Regan reached double figures with 13 points to go with six boards.  Johnson and senior Devon Dawson split 12 points for Daemen while Johnson established a new career-high by hauling in 11 rebounds.  Freshman forward Gerald Beverly was key defensively down the stretch, finishing the game with six rebounds and two big blocked shots, both of which occurred in the game's final minutes.

Daemen currently sits in a 1st place tie with AMC foe Walsh and now awaits the Point Park Pioneers for a Saturday matinee affair to close out the regular season.  A win Saturday would likely mean a share of the AMC Regular Season Championship, unless Walsh loses this week.  Nonetheless, Walsh is ineligible for post-season play and Daemen has locked up home court advantage in the AMC Tournament.  The Wildcats will host the #4 seed on Tuesday, February 21.  The AMC Championship Game, with an automatic bid to the NAIA II National Tournament in Point Lookout, MO on the line, is scheduled for Saturday, February 25 at the highest remaining seed.