AMHERST, N.Y. - Redshirt-junior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) hit 9-of-12 field goal attempts and totaled 25 points to lead six double-figure scorers for the Daemen College men's basketball team as the Wildcats picked up their sixth-consecutive victory, a 107-96 barn-burner over Queens College in East Coast Conference action at Lumsden Gymnasium today.

With the victory, Daemen improves to 11-6 overall, and 7-3 in the league.  Today's game marked the halfway point of the 2015-16 ECC slate, and the Wildcats sit in fourth place in the league standings, but just one game back in the loss column of the three teams ahead of them.

Queens, which escaped the New York City metropolitan area in time to miss Winter Storm Jonas, falls to 5-9 overall and 3-6 in the league with today's loss.  It was the third-straight loss for the Knights, including a 77-66 defeat in Rochester on Friday night against Roberts Wesleyan College to kickoff their annual Western New York tour.

Mehmetaj was a perfect 7-for-7 from two-point range today, adding 5-for-5 shooting at the charity stripe as part of his high-scoring effort, finishing just one point shy of his career-high.

Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) went 9-for-11 at the free throw line, posting 20 points and four assists today.  The ECC's leading scorer has now scored at least 20 points in seven-straight games.

The Wildcats, who played without starting guard Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y./Thomasville Prep) for the first time this season, got great efforts from three freshman starters - Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena), Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame).  Hamilton scored 10 of his career-high 14 points in the first half, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor including 3-for-3 from long distance as he made his sixth consecutive start.  Sarkis hit for 13 poitns while adding four assists and four steals.  And Garvin, inserted in the starting lineup for the first time in his career, responded with 11 points, four assists and two steals.  Petrucelli missed the game after suffering an injury in Friday's win over Molloy College, and his long-term status is still being evaluated.  The Wildcats have already been without starting guard Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) for the last 13 games.

A jumper by QC's Diego Maldonado opened the scoring, but Daemen gained the lead shortly thereafter following a Dyck free throw and the Wildcats led for the remainder of the contest.  Sparked by hitting five of their first seven three-point attempts, Daemen opened up a 30-14 lead with 9:24 left in the opening half following a Sarkis jumper.  Queens would get no closer than nine points for the rest of the half and Daemen took a 13-point edge (49-36) into the intermission.

The Wildcats torched the nets in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 67-percent from the field (16-for-24), including 6-for-11 from three-point land (55-percent).

QC opened the second period with four-straight points to cut it back to a nine-point deficit, but balloon back to double figures on a Sarkis three-pointer at the 18:12 mark.  From there, the lead never got under double figures until late in the game when it got interesting.  The Wildcats led by as many as 17 points (75-58 with 6:20 to play) before the Knights began their ascent.

Dyck found a cutting Ryan Grandits (Kenmore, N.Y./Medaille College) for a one-handed jam at the 3:16 mark to put Daemen up by 14 points (83-69).  But, Queens would go on a 21-11 jaunt over the next two minutes to bring themselves within four points (94-90) with 1:03 to play.  Kyheim Chaplin accounted for 12 points in the spurt, including a three-pointer to cap the run which brought the score to its closest margin since Daemen led 9-5 in the opening three minutes of the game.

Timely free throw shooting saved the day for the Wildcats who connected on 20-of-22 charity-stripe attempts in the game's final two minutes.  Grandits put home two on the ensuing possession after Chaplin's triple to make it a six-point game (96-90) and the Knights never got any closer.

The parade of Wildcat shooters to the free throw line late in the game resulted in Daemen's first outing with 50 free throw attempts since February 9, 2013, a 78-68 road win at Salem International University in which the Wildcats went 33-for-50 from the line.  Today, Daemen canned 42-of-51 freebies for a season-best 82-percent conversion rate.

For the game, Daemen wound up shooting 61-percent from the field (28-for-46), including 9-for-19 from three-point land (47-percent).  Daemen turned 18 QC turnovers into a 25-12 gap in points of miscues.

The Knights, who won the rebound battle 31-24, collected 17 offensive rebounds, leading to a 23-6 advantage in second-chance points and an astounding 54-26 boon in points in the paint.

Tyree White went 11-for-14 from the field and totaled a game-high 26 points to pace the Knights.  He added six boards, eight assists and two thefts to his nice stat line.

Chaplin finished with 14 points and QC also got double-figure scoring from Mohamed Dansoko (16), Malcolm Moore (10) and Paul Little (10).

The offensive performance today marked Daemen's second 100-point game of the season, and the Wildcats improved to 50-2 when topping 90 points since the start of the 2009-10 season.

Daemen looks to avenge an earlier ECC loss when they visit University of the District of Columbia next Friday night (January 29) in our nation's capital.  Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.