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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mbb at udc 12.3.16
Supreme Hannah notched his second 20-point game of the season today
84
Daemen DAEM 5-3, 0-2 ECC
90
Winner District of Columbia UDC-M 2-4, 1-0 ECC
Daemen DAEM
5-3, 0-2 ECC
84
Final
90
District of Columbia UDC-M
2-4, 1-0 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Daemen DAEM 38 42 4 84
District of Columbia UDC-M 41 39 10 90

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

Daemen Drops Second Straight Overtime Decision

Hannah's Career-High 29 Points Not Enough To Lead Wildcats Past Firebirds

WASHINGTON, D.C. - For the second time in four days, the Daemen College men's basketball team was left with the bitter taste of an overtime defeat on the road, falling today 90-84 to the University of the District of Columbia in an early season East Coast Conference meeting at the UDC Sports Complex.

Daemen, which fell in overtime (73-70) at Long Island University Post on Wednesday, has now lost three straight overall to drop to 5-3 on the season (0-2 in ECC play).

The host Firebirds, who were picked one spot ahead of Daemen at No. 4 in this season's ECC preseason poll, snapped a three-game skid to improve to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in league play.  It was the first-ever home win for UDC in the all-time series with Daemen.  The Wildcats, who still lead the series 5-2, came into today's contest averaging 95.7 points per game against the Firebirds in their own nest.

UDC was led by the duo of senior guards Reggie Sidbury (Landover, Md.) and Joseph Nickerson (Newark, N.J.) who combined for 40 points on 13-of-25 shooting.  Sidbury canned five three-pointers as part of his team-high 21 points, while Nickerson stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, nine boards and five steals.  Nickerson's conversion of two free throws with two-tenths of a second remaining in regulation erased an 80-78 Daemen lead and sent the game to overtime.

Senior guard Kasim Chandler (Newark, N.J.) went a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe as part of a 14-point outing.  The current ECC assists leader added a game-high seven dimes, and the Firebirds also got double-figure scoring from junior guards Traevon Butler (Lakewood, N.J.) and Khalil Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who split 26 points.

The loss spoiled a tremendous individual effort from Daemen senior Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) who pumped in a career-high 29 points.  Hannah his 8-of-14 shots from the field and went a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line.

Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) went 8-of-9 at the charity stripe as part of his 17-point performance, while Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) posted 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.  Sophomore guard Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) chipped in with a season-high 12 points and six boards.

Daemen trailed by as many as seven points in the early going, before battling back to build its own five-point advantage (33-28) following a 7-0 spurt that featured a Garvin three-pointer and back-to-back layups by Hamilton.

UDC would score 10 of the next 12 points to jump back ahead 38-35 with just over a minute remaining in the period.  Daemen knotted things up when Mehmetaj converted all three free throws awarded when he was fouled behind the arc with 26 ticks left in the period, but Jackson nailed a three-pointer for UDC just before the buzzer giving the hosts a 41-38 halftime advantage.

Daemen took the lead (42-41) briefly early in the second half when Hannah found Hamilton for a layup.  But, the Firebirds used a 19-8 spurt to open up a 10-point gap (60-50) after Nickerson's layup at the 14-minute mark.  UDC hit four three-pointers and Nickerson totaled eight points in the spurt.

Daemen responded with a 13-2 run of its own with Hannah leading the charge.  His three-pointer at the 9:30 mark put the Wildcats ahead 63-62.  It was the first of 11 lead changes in the final 10 minutes of the period as the two teams traded blow after blow.  

Of the 11 lead changes, five happened in the final 1:26 of regulation.  Daemen forged ahead 79-78 on a pair of Hannah freebies with 13 seconds left, and forced a traveling call on the ensuing UDC possession.  Mehmetaj was quickly hacked as took the inbounds pass, and he went to the line where he split a pair.  Nickerson then went the length of the court in under four seconds, attacking the basket and drawing the foul which sent him to the line for the equalizers, pulling the hosts even at 80-80.

In the overtime, Daemen never led and UDC outscored the Wildcats 6-0 in the final 1:55.  After Hannah hit a jumper to tie the score at 84-all with 3:32 to go, the teams went scoreless until Butler sank two free throws at the 1:55 mark, putting UDC ahead for good.  The Wildcats misfired on their final three field goal attempts and committed a turnover down the stretch.  UDC went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 11 seconds to salt it away.

UDC shot 45.9 percent from the field (28-for-61) compared to just 41.2 percent for the Wildcats (28-for-68).  Daemen managed a season-low six three-pointers, shooting 25 percent from long distance (6-of-24), while the hosts canned 11-of-24 long-balls for 45.8 percent.  Both teams were efficient from the charity stripe; Daemen shot 22-for-26 (84.6 percent), but the Firebirds missed just one free throw all game (23-for-24, 95.8 percent), and their 8-for-8 showing in the extra session helped them overcome 1-for-5 field goal shooting in the period.

Daemen will close out a string of four consecutive road games when they travel to the University of Bridgeport next Saturday, December 10 in their only game of the week.  Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. at Hubbell Gymnasium on the UB campus.

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

 
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