AMHERST, N.Y. – Senior Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) and graduate student Ryan Grandits (Kenmore, N.Y./Medaille College) both made the most of their final regular-season home game while leading Daemen College to a 93-68 victory over New York Institute of Technology here today in East Coast Conference men's basketball action.
Dyck flirted with a triple double and finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and in the process recorded his 1,000th career point. Dyck, who has now totaled exactly 1,000 points in 48 career games (20.8 per game), becomes just the fourth two-year player in team history to score 1,000 or more points—and the first since Russell John totaled 1,061 points from 1990-92. Grandits connected on 8-of-9 shots overall and was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point land en route to a season-high 19 points. He has now scored in double figures in each of the last four games.
Daemen, which is ranked 10th in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll, has now won 12 of its last 14 games and improved to 17-8 overall and 13-5 in the ECC.
The Wildcats, who clinched a berth in the six-team ECC Championship tournament following a win over Roberts Wesleyan College this past Wednesday, remained in sole possession of second place in the ECC standings with two games to play. The top two seeds earn a first-round bye into the ECC Championship tournament semifinals.
New York Tech dropped to 3-23 overall and 2-17 in the ECC.
Four players scored in double figures for the host Wildcats. Freshman point guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) canned a career-high five three-pointers (5-for-7 from downtown) and equaled his career-high with 19 points. Redshirt freshman Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) added 17 points, four rebounds and two blocks. He is now averaging 18 points over the past four games. Junior Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) added nine points and five assists.
Senior Jerrel Green (Stockton, Calf.) totaled 19 points and nine rebounds for the Bears, while classmate Khalif Chaplin (Hempstead, N.Y.) drilled four three-pointers and totaled 18 points and six assists.
The first seven minutes featured two ties and four lead changes. NYIT held a 15-13 lead when a three-point play by Dyck sparked the Wildcats on a 21-4 run. The hosts drilled four three-pointers during the run, three by Sarkis and one from Hamilton. The third triple by Sarkis with 2:56 left before halftime capped the run and gave the Wildcats a 34-19 lead. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half and Daemen took a 40-25 lead into the break.
The teams continued to trade baskets early in the second half and the Daemen lead was 13 points, 51-38, with just over 13 minutes to play when the hosts bumped the lead up to 21 points, 59-38, following a three-pointer by junior Jesse Lalka (Tonawanda, N.Y./Tonawanda), a layup by Hamilton and a three-point play by Hamilton. The Wildcats eventually took their largest lead of the game, 82-54, following a three-point play by freshman Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) with 7:13 remaining. NYIT came no closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
Daemen connected on 34-of-71 (48%) shots overall and went 11-of-29 from three-point land. The Wildcats connected on 14-of-16 free throws and have now shot a sizzling 85-percent (75-for-88) from the charity stripe over the past four games. NYIT connected on just 11-of-36 shots (31%) in the first half and finished 28-for-74 (38%) from the field overall. The Bears, who entered the game ranked second among ECC teams in three-pointers attempted per game (24.1), made just 2-of-15 from downtown in the first half and finished 7-of-31 overall. The Wildcats also posted a 46-41 edge in total rebounds.
Daemen closes out the regular-season next weekend when it travels to Molloy College (Feb. 26) and Queens College (Feb. 28) for ECC games.
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