ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - Five Wildcats scored in double figures as the Daemen College men's basketball team dropped a close game in overtime to the Dominican College Chargers, 98-93, this evening at the Hennessy Center. Dominican College is a member of NCAA Division II as well as the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

The two teams traded baskets throughout the game which resulted in thirteen lead changes and seventeen ties. The first half was essentially a back and forth affair as the two teams swapped baskets and the Chargers went into intermission with a 43-40 lead.

The Chargers led for most of the second half until the Wildcats slowly but surely erased a seven-point Dominican lead and found themselves up 82-81 with 35-seconds to go in the game after a layup from Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena).

The Chargers tied the game with two seconds remaining in regulation when AJ Burton hit a layup, evening the score at 86-86.However, the Chargers were the better team in the extra period, out-scoring Daemen 12-7, to earn the win.

Sheehan entered tonight's game with 1,228 career points in which he broke into Daemen's top 10 all-time leading scorers (1,256 points) as he paced the Wildcats with 28 points and seven assists.

Junior forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) recorded his seventh double-double of the season as he notched 22 points and dominated the glass grabbing 14 rebounds for the visitors.

Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Erie CC) added 11 points and eight rebounds while fellow senior Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) chipped in 10 points and six rebounds. Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) drilled three three-pointers and totaled 12 points while senior point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) also contributed seven assists.

Nick Smith, a junior forward, scored a team-high 27 points and had seven rebounds while teammate Justin Turner recorded a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Chargers.

As a team, the Wildcats shot 33-of-35 (38.8%) from the field compared to Dominican's 34-for-62 (54.8%) field goal shooting. Daemen out-rebounded the Chargers 49-43 which resulted in 19 second chance points for the Wildcats compared to Dominican's nine.

The loss drops the Wildcats to 7-6 on the season while the Chargers improve to 9-3.

Daemen will now prepare for their first home game of the new year as they host East Coast Conference opponent the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m.