Bridgeport, Conn. - The Daemen College men's basketball team recorded its third-straight win as they scored an 90-79 victory over the University of Bridgeport this evening. The Wildcats improved to 10-6 overall and 7-3 in the ECC while Bridgeport, who was picked first in the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll, dropped to 7-8 overall and 5-4 in the league.

Daemen made 54-percent (31-57) of its shots in the contest, with a 63-percent clip (17-for-27) in the second half. The Wildcats also went 78-percent (18-23) from the free-throw line.

Five players reached double figures for the Wildcats. Junior forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili) led the way for Daemen as he recorded his ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc for a career high of 16 points while senior Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Erie CC) added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Junior Aaron Davis (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) added 12 points while senior Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds. Senior point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) also totaled eight assists to the Daemen cause.
 
Junior forward Sean Berry paced the Purple Knights with 20 points and six rebounds. Antoine Brown contributed 16 points while teammate Curtis Loving added 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
The two teams traded baskets in the opening stanza (14-13, 13:21) until Bridgeport went on a 10-0 run which was led by Berry and Loving. The Wildcats then picked up some momentum off a dunk from Beverly with 8:08 left to go in the first half. Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) then hit a three pointer the next time down the court to bring Daemen back within seven, 26-19. Clifford then scored back-to-back buckets to tie the game 28-28 with 5:26 remaining. The Wildcats outscored Bridgeport 12-8 over the final minutes of the first half and went into intermission with a 40-36 lead.

Daemen opened up the second half with a 8-1 spurt which included a jumper by Beverly and a triple from Clifford, but the Knights quickly came back, leaving the score at 48-45 with 16:26 left to play. The Wildcats then made a gap in which the Purple Knights were not able to come back from. With 8:42 left in the game, Daemen found themselves up sixtenn after three point basket from Davis assisted by Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y. / Eastridge HS). Bridgeport came no closer than 11 points down the stretch leaving the final score at 90-79.

Daemen forced 13 turnovers in the game, which resulted in 17 points for the visitors. Bridgeport connected on just 15-of-38 shots in the opening half and finished 32-of-71 (45%) for the game. Daemen also held a 15-6 advantage on fast break points.

Daemen is idle until next weekend when it hosts East Coast Conference members Saint Thomas Aquinas College on Friday (8 p.m.) and Mercy College Saturday (3 p.m.) at Lumsden Gymnasium.