Daemen (21-5) 53-43--96
Fisher (6-15) 34-48--82

LYNN, Mass. - The Daemen College men's basketball team never trailed and canned 64-percent of its shots in the the first half en route to a 96-82 road victory over Fisher College in a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day matinee affair today.

Daemen, the No. 4 ranked team in the last seven United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) polls, improved to 21-5 with the victory while Fisher, an independent member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), dropped to 6-15 with the loss.

Forward Jim Regan (Williamsville, N.Y./Nichols) continued his strong play of late with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting.  The 6'7" senior has averaged 25 points per game in his last three outings.

Daemen opened the game on a 14-4 spurt capped by a three-pointer from junior guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) at the 15:22 mark, giving Daemen a double figure cushion that it would never relinquish.  All five starters scored in the spurt.

The Wildcats extended the run to lead 24-10 on a layup by junior forward Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) at the 12:20 mark.  At that point, Daemen had opened the game by making 10 of their first 14 field goal attempts, including three-point baskets by Coppola, sophomore forward Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls), junior guard Alvin Satram (New Port Richey, Fla./Pasco-Hernando CC) and junior guard Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena).

Later in the half, Daemen used a 9-1 run to establish a 24-point lead (43-19) with 6:11 remaining in the period, but Fisher would outscore Daemen 15-10 in the final six minutes of the half to trail 53-34.

Daemen connected on 23-of-36 shot attempts in the period, including 5-of-11 (46-percent) from three-point range.  It was the 19th time that the Wildcats have scored 50 or more points in a half this season.

The Falcons would attempt to make things interesting in the second half.  Trailing 60-42, Fisher rattled off a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to just 14 (61-47) on a layup by Danny Garner with 15:24 to play.

Redshirt sophomore guard Aaron Davis (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) answered with a triple for Daemen and Regan added another bucket to push the Wildcat lead back to 19 (66-47) with 14:26 remaining.

Fisher cut the deficit to 15 on three occasions over the next two-and-a-half minutes, the latter of which was answered by a traditional three-point play from Greene and a layup by sophomore forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) who returned to the lineup for the first time since leaving with an injury vs. Ave Maria University back on Jan. 5.  Beverly's basket at the 11:28 mark gave Daemen its first 20-point lead of the half (75-55).

Johnson hit a three-pointer at the 8:53 mark to put Daemen ahead 84-60 and giving the Wildcats its largest lead of the half.

Daemen led by 24 again on a layup by junior guard Troy Nowak (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) which made the score 93-69 with 3:01 to go.

Fisher closed the gap to 14 with a 10-0 run, that included a 7-of-7 showing from the free throw line, to trail 93-79 with 1:52 to go, but it was too little, too late for the Falcons.

Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds to go with three assists and two steals in a reserve role for Daemen.  He hit on seven of his nine field goal attempts.

Sheehan scored 13 points and chipped in five assists and three steals while Coppola connected on 3-of-5 from three-point range for nine points along with a game-high seven assists.

Beverly contributed eight points and five boards in just 10 minutes of action as the coaching staff attempts to bring him back slowly from an ankle injury that cost him to miss the last two games.

Ryan McCorkle paced the Falcons with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting.  Kyle Murphy, who came into the game with just six three-point baskets all year, hit 4-of-5 from deep and finished with 20 points.

Sam Nwadike reached double figures for Fisher as well with 14 points.

Daemen overcame dismal free throw shooting (14-for-33; 42-percent) in the game with 18 second chance points and a 48-34 advantage in points in the paint.

The Wildcats held a 37-33 advantage off the backboard and combined for 29 assists as a team on 37 made field goals (37-for-65; 57-percent).

Daemen has now won 10 of its last 11 and put up a 5-1 record in their current stretch of six consecutive road games which ended today.  The Wildcats return to the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium this Saturday (Jan. 26) when they'll face Salem International University - an independent member of NCAA Division II.  The Wildcats and Tigers met at SIU back on Dec. 7 when Daemen came away with an 86-66 victory.  Saturday's game, which tips at 4 p.m., is the last remaining home game this season for Daemen (a scheduled home game on Feb. 14 vs. Mohawk College has been cancelled) and a pre-game ceremony is planned to honor Regan - the team's lone senior - who will be playing in the final home contest of his career.