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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mbb at ub 11.4.16
82
Daemen DAEM 0-0
87
Winner Buffalo UB 0-0
Daemen DAEM
0-0
82
Final
87
Buffalo UB
0-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Daemen DAEM 30 42 10 82
Buffalo UB 31 41 15 87

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Division I Bulls Narrowly Escape Wildcats In Overtime

Daemen Goes To Overtime For Second Time In Last Three Seasons Vs. Division I Opponents

BUFFALO, N.Y. - In a game that took on the feel of late March as opposed to early November, the Daemen College men's basketball team gave the Division I University at Buffalo all they could handle before falling 87-82 in overtime in front of an Alumni Arena crowd that topped 3,400 spectators for exhibition action this evening.

After trailing by one at the half (31-30), Daemen led for more than 12 minutes during the second half, ultimately going to overtime against a Division I opponent for the second time in the last three seasons.  The last ended in an 83-81 win against Canisius College in head coach Mike MacDonald's debut on the Daemen bench back on November 11, 2014.  This time around, the Bulls proved to be too much, outscoring the Wildcats 15-10 in the extra session to secure the win after seeing their second straight Mid-American Conference championship banner unveiled before tonight's tip-off.

The UB trio of guard C.J. Massinburg (Dallas, Texas), wing Willie Connor (Chicago, Ill.) and forward Nick Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) combined for 76 of the Bulls' 87 points.  Massinburg, who threatened to break the game open by scoring eight points on 3-of-3 shooting in the first four minutes, finished with a game-high 27 points.  The 6-foot-3 sophomore must be comfortable playing against the Wildcats as he netted a game-high 25 points in last season's exhibition matchup, an 87-68 Bulls win.  Connor scored 14 of 24 points after halftime, while the 6-foot-8 Perkins came off the bench to register 25 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 from the charity stripe.  Perkins added a team-high eight boards to help the hosts out-rebound the Wildcats 50-36.

Redshirt-freshman forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) paced five double-figure scorers for the Wildcats with 22 points, knocking down half of Daemen's 12 three-pointers in the contest.  Redshirt-sophomore wing Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) scored 16 points and added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals while logging a game-high 41 minutes.  Redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) hit for 15 points and grabbed eight boards before fouling out, and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, five assists and five steals.  Sophomore guard Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) scored all 10 of his points after halftime.

UB jumped out to an 18-9 lead in the first nine minutes of the game after hitting four of their first eight three-point attempts.  But, Daemen regrouped and cut the lead to just three (25-22) at the 4:46 mark after a drive and layup by redshirt-junior forward Xavier Long (Brooklyn, N.Y./Williamsburg Prep).  

The Bulls re-established a modest seven-point lead (29-22) on a Massinburg dunk, but Daemen closed the half on a 8-2 spurt to trail 31-30.

To open the second half, Daemen held possession four times in the first four minutes with a chance to tie or take the lead, coming up empty each time.  But, the fifth time was the charm.  Back-to-back Redband three-pointers out of the under-16 media timeout sparked an 11-0 run that saw Daemen turn a five-point deficit (41-36) into its first and largest lead of the game at 47-41.  The run also saw an old-fashioned three-point play by Wilkes and was capped by Hamilton's layup at the 12:27 mark.

The Bulls briefly regained the lead at 52-51 following a three-pointer by sophomore wing Nikola Rakicevic (Smederevska Palanka, Serbia), but Hamilton answered with back-to-back buckets for the Wildcats.

Trailing 61-58, a Massinburg three-pointer went in-and-out before the Wildcats fast-breaked their way to an alley-oop from Wilkes to Garvin at the 4:35 mark to lead by five.  Moments later, Connor's three-pointer which cut the Daemen lead to one (65-54) was met with a trifecta at the other end by Daemen freshman Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls).

Massinburg scored the next seven points for the Bulls, putting the hosts ahead 70-69 with his hoop-and-harm at the 1:30 mark.  After an empty Daemen possession, Connor scored on a layup to put UB ahead by three (72-69) with just 34 seconds remaining.  But, Redband answered eight seconds later by knotting the game at 72-72 with his sixth trifecta.  Massinburg's runner was off the mark as time expired sending the game to overtime.

Connor got the first bucket of the extra session for the Bulls before Daemen scored four straight to lead 76-74 with 3:57 left.  Perkins went 5-for-6 from the free throw line and Connor knocked down a triple over the next two-plus minutes to put the Bulls ahead by four (82-78).  Garvin's three-pointer at the 1:15 mark pulled Daemen back within one as the Wildcats would not go quietly into the night.

After a UB turnover, Daemen had an opportunity to take the lead inside of a minute remaining, but Garvin's contested pull-up jumper was off the mark.  Perkins hammered down a dunk and was fouled on the ensuing UB possession, converting his freebie to make it a two-possession game (85-81) with 17 seconds left.  Redband's desperation three-point attempt was off the mark for Daemen and Massinburg ended up with a breakaway dunk to salt this one away, although he was whistled for a technical foul for excessive rim-hanging.

Daemen shot 28-of-70 from the field (40-percent) while UB converted 29 of its 65 field goal attempts (45-percent).  The Bulls held a 42-28 advantage in paint points, and a 20-18 edge in points off turnovers despite coughing the ball up 20 times themselves.

The game was Daemen's second exhibition against a Division I opponent this week.  The Wildcats fell behind 22-2 on Wednesday, eventually falling 92-65 at Siena College which figures to be one of the top teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season.

Redband's 22-point outing made him the first Daemen player to score at least 20 points against a Division I opponent since former Wildcats Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) and Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) netted 25 and 20 points, respectively, in the afore-mentioned overtime win at Canisius in 2014.

With the two-game exhibition slate now in the rearview mirror, Daemen looks ahead to its regular season opener.  For the third straight year, the Wildcats open the year by hosting the ECC-CACC Challenge presented by WNY Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC.  The four-team event runs from November 11-12 with Daemen facing Caldwell University (8 p.m. on Nov. 11) and Dominican College (4 p.m. on Nov. 12).  

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen men's basketball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenMBB on Twitter.
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