ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Senior Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) canned 6-of-8 three-pointers and scored a career-high 24 points to lead Daemen College past upset-minded Roberts Wesleyan College 59-54 here tonight in East Coast Conference men's basketball action.
Daemen has now won two-straight and four of its last six games. The Wildcats improved to 18-8 overall and 13-5 in the ECC. RWC lost for the forth time in five games and dropped to 10-14 overall and 6-12 in the league. Daemen has now prevailed in the last eight meetings between the two long-time rivals.
Daemen, which is averaging a league-high 82.2 points a game, had been winless in its last four games when scoring less than 60 points.
Clifford, who made 5-of-8 from downtown in a win over Mercy College this past Saturday, has now made 11 of his last 16 three-point attempts. He finished 9-of-12 from the field overall and also totaled four rebounds and two steals. Senior Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) had a successful homecoming and finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Beverly, who scored his 1,700th career point during the game, has now scored in double figures in 56-straight games. Senior Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) struggled from the field most of the night, but he scored four big points late in the game and finished with seven points and five rebounds. Greene also extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 37. Junior Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) chipped in five points, four assists and two steals.
Senior Tyrel Dixon (Tobyhanna, Pa.) scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half for the Redhawks. Classmate Isaac Medeiros (Johnston, R.I.) added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
RWC held a 7-5 lead seven minutes into the game when the Wildcats scored nine unanswered points. A three-pointer by Greene with 9:54 left before halftime capped the run and gave the visitors a 14-7 lead. Daemen later increased its lead to 12 points, 21-9, following a layup by Clifford three minutes later, but the Wildcats would not score again until Clifford swished a three-pointer from nearly half court just before the halftime buzzer. The Redhawks took advantage of Daemen's scoring drought and scored 13-straight points. RWC briefly regained the lead, 22-21, following a layup by Dixon with 1:11 left in the half, but Clifford's buzzer-beater gave the Wildcats a 24-22 halftime lead.
Daemen, which defeated RWC by 20 points last month at Daemen, appeared ready to take control when a triple by Clifford gave the visitors a 35-27 lead five minutes into the second half. The Wildcats could not pull away and still led by only eight (45-37) with just over eight minutes to play, when a three-pointer by Dixon sparked the Redhawks on a game-tying 10-2 run. Dixon scored nine of the 10 points and his jumper with 4:59 left knotted the game at 47-47. The teams traded free throws before a jumper by Dixon gave the hosts a 51-49 lead with 2:25 left. Greene then tied the game 20 seconds later, and after a RWC turnover Beverly canned one-of-two free throws with 1:28 left. Sophomore Jamaal Carter (Buffalo, N.Y.) gave RWC its final lead when he hit two free throws with 1:26 to play. Greene scored again 16 seconds later and after a Dixon miss Beverly gave Daemen a 56-53 lead with :30 seconds left. Medeiros split a pair of free throws with 0:24 seconds left and Hannah did the same for Daemen a second later to make it 57-54 Daemen. Dixon was off the mark with a three-pointer with :08 seconds left and Beverly secured the win by hitting two free throws.
Daemen earned the win despite shooting just 38-percent (21-for-55) from the field and just 10-of-17 from the charity stripe. RWC shot just 36-percent (21-for-58) from the field and made 7-of-11 free throws. Daemen was 7-of-22 from behind the arc, while RWC was 5-of-19. Both teams collected 38 total rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds.
Daemen closes out the regular-season this weekend when it travels to Long Island for ECC games at LIU Post (Feb. 27) and New York Tech (Feb. 28).
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