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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mbb at queens (1.11.17)
Arif Mehmetaj recorded the 11th 20-point game of his career tonight
75
Winner Daemen DAEM 10-5, 4-3 ECC
62
Queens (N.Y.) QUEM 7-8, 4-4 ECC
Winner
Daemen DAEM
10-5, 4-3 ECC
75
Final
62
Queens (N.Y.) QUEM
7-8, 4-4 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 28 47 75
Queens (N.Y.) QUEM 31 31 62

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

Wildcats Pick Up 10th Win Of Season

Mehmetaj Scores 21 Points To Lead Daemen Past Queens

FLUSHING, N.Y. - After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, the Daemen College men's basketball team outscored Queens College 47-31 in the second, walking away with a 75-62 victory in East Coast Conference play at Fitzgerald Gymnasium tonight.

The win pushes Daemen to 10-5 overall and 4-3 in the league this season.  The Wildcats have now won three straight games overall (and five of their last six), as well as four straight ECC contests dating back to mid-December.  It also snapped a four-game slide in true road games as the Wildcats earned their first win away from Lumsden Gymnasium since an 11-point non-conference defeat of Edinboro University on Nov. 23.

Queens, which was picked in a tie for seventh place in the ECC preseason poll, fell to 7-8 overall and an even 4-4 in ECC play with the loss.  The Knights, who entered today's action as the only ECC team with a win over league-leading University of the District of Columbia this season, are now just 2-3 since that signature win on Dec. 10.

The Wildcats were led tonight by redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) who scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, while playing less than three miles from his high school alma mater, Forest Hills.  Mehmetaj shot 7-of 14 from the field.  The production marked his second 20-point outing of the season (11th of his career), and his first since scoring a season-high 26 points in the win over Edinboro.

Redshirt-senior guard Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) canned 7-of-8 shots from the charity stripe as part of his 15-point performance, while also adding a game-high five assists.  He's now reached double figures on the scoresheet in eight straight games for the longest such streak of his career.  

Sophomore guard Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) chipped in with 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds, while redshirt-freshman forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) narrowly missed double figures with nine points.  Mehmetaj, Hannah, Garvin and Redband combined for 10 of the Wildcats' 12 three-pointers.

Queens got a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) from senior wing Tyree White (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who finished with seven field goals on 11 attempts.  A second-team All-ECC performer last season, White contributed to the Knights' hot start, scoring the team's first 10 points of the game. 

Senior guard/forward Malcolm Moore (Corona, N.Y.) and senior guard Diego Maldonado (Valley Stream, N.Y.) also reached double figures for the Knights, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively.  

With White igniting the engine, QC shot 8-for-14 from the field and jumped ahead 20-10 just over eight minutes into the contest.  Maldonado canned his second three-pointer of the game at the 11:49 mark of the first half, giving Queens its first and only double-figure lead of the game.  Sparked by back-to-back buckets from Hannah, Daemen scored 10 of the next 12 points, ultimately outscoring the hosts 18-11 for the remainder of the period.  The Wildcats pulled even (27-27) on a Mehmetaj three-pointer at the 1:32 mark, and took their first lead (28-27) when he split a pair of free throws with under a minute left.   QC scored the last four points of the period to take a 31-28 lead into the locker room.

After trading buckets to open the second half, knotting the score at 34-34, Daemen embarked on a 27-10 spurt which would definitively give the guests control of the game.  Mehmetaj, who scored a team-high eight points in the run, hit a triple at the 18:09 mark to kick-start a string of seven straight points at the outset.  He would add two freebies at the 14:06 mark to put the Wildcats ahead by 10 points (50-40).  A three-pointer by senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) at the 11-minute mark forged Daemen ahead 58-44, and it gave the Wildcats 30 points in the opening nine minutes of the period.  Another three-pointer, this one from Garvin at the 8:45 mark to cap the run, swelled the Wildcat edge to its widest margin at 17 points (61-44).

From there, it took until there were just 38 seconds remaining for QC to cut the Daemen lead to single digits, pulling within eight (70-62) on a layup by Tyrone Hall (Brooklyn, N.Y.).  But, the Wildcats salted away the victory by hitting 5-of-6 at the free throw line in crunch time.

Daemen, which shot just 26.5 percent from the field in the first half (9-for-34), finished 24-for-67 (35.8 percent), thanks in large part to 45.5 percent second-half shooting (15-for-33).  The second-half outburst included an 8-for-14 showing from three-point land (57.1 percent).  The Wildcats also enjoyed 78.9 percent shooting at the charity stripe (15-for-19).

Queens shot 41.1 percent for the game (23-for-56), but they hit on just 5-of-21 from three-point range (23.8 percent) and 11-of-18 at the line (61.1 percent).  The hosts shot themselves in the foot by committing 17 turnovers which Daemen turned into 20 points.  The Wildcats recorded 15 assists and just six turnovers in the game.

Daemen, which entered the game as the stingiest team in the ECC, allowing just 68.8 points per game, has now held opponents below 70 points in nine games this season, including the last five in a row, going 8-1 in those contests.

The win moved Daemen to 6-2 all-time against the Knights, and it snapped a two-game losing streak at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.  It also marked Daemen's ninth win by a double-figure margin this season.

By securing their 10th win of the year, Daemen has now reached double figures in the win column in 23 consecutive seasons.  It also marked the 50th win on the Daemen bench for head coach Mike MacDonald, now in his third season at the helm.  MacDonald, who previously held the top spot at Division I Canisius College and Division III Medaille College, is now 50-25 at Daemen, and 306-251 in 20 seasons overall.

Daemen looks to continue its hot streak this Saturday, Jan. 14 against Molloy College at Quealy Gymnasium in Rockville Centre, N.Y.  

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