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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mbb at rwc 2.25.17
Daemen is 3-1 this season when Supreme Hannah scores 20 points or more
80
Winner Daemen DAEM 18-8 (12-6 ECC)
71
Roberts Wesleyan College RWCM 3-24 (2-16 ECC)
Winner
Daemen DAEM
18-8 (12-6 ECC)
80
Final
71
Roberts Wesleyan College RWCM
3-24 (2-16 ECC)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 38 42 80
Roberts Wesleyan College RWCM 26 45 71

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

Daemen Closes Regular Season With Rivalry-Game Win

Wildcats Pick Up 12th Straight Win Over Roberts Wesleyan To Lock Up No. 4 Seed In Upcoming ECC Tournament

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Playing in their hometown for the first and only time this season, Rochester natives Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) combined for 49 points to power the Daemen College men's basketball team to an 80-71 victory in its regular season finale against Roberts Wesleyan College at the Voller Athletic Center today.  

The win clinches the No. 4 seed in the upcoming East Coast Conference Tournament for the Wildcats who end the regular season at 18-8 overall and 12-6 in the league.  Daemen finished in a tie for third place with the University of Bridgeport (17-11, 12-6 ECC) in the final league standings, but UB holds the tie-breaker so they'll be the tournament's No. 3 seed.  Daemen hosts fifth-seeded University of the District of Columbia (14-12, 11-7 ECC) in the opening round on Wednesday, March 1.

It was also Daemen's 12th consecutive win in the all-time series with Roberts Wesleyan.  The Wildcats, who led for more than 34 minutes in today's game, have won 19 of the last 20 meetings, including 10-straight at the Voller Athletic Center where they haven't lost since the 2006-07 season.  RWC ends its 2016-17 season at 3-24 overall and 2-16 in league play.  The result tonight pushed the Redhawks to 0-19 when surrendering 80 points or more, and 3-12 in games decided by nine points or less.

Hamilton, a red-shirt sophomore guard/forward, came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points in just 29 minutes of action.  He shot a blistering 11-of-13 from the field while adding five rebounds and three assists.  His previous career-high (24 points) came against RWC last season, and he's now averaging 16.0 points in four career games against his hometown team.  He has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games, averaging 14.1 points and shooting close to 60 percent from the field (43-for-73) in that stretch.  Daemen is now 13-2 this season in games that Hamilton shoots 50 percent or better from the field.

Hannah matched a season-high with four three-pointers and scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half.  It was a solid bounce-back game for the red-shirt senior guard who had scored just 18 points over the last three outings after having his career-best streak of 15 consecutive double-figure games snapped earlier this month.  He shot 8-for-15 from the field today (4-for-7 from downtown) and added three steals and two assists.  It was Hannah's fourth 20-point game of the season, and the sixth of his career.

Red-shirt senior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) reached double figures for the Wildcats as well, posting 10 points in just 21 minutes.  Mehmetaj, who scored 26 points in Daemen's 71-59 win over Queens College earlier this week, made just two field goals today, but shot a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe and added five rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal.

The hosts placed four players in double figures, led by freshman guard Isaiah Lewis (Churchville, N.Y.) who totaled 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.  Big man Malik Dare (Cohoes, N.Y.) came off the bench to connect on seven of his nine field goal attempts, totaling 15 points and five boards.  Junior point guard Tristan Brown (Elmont, N.Y.) posted a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds), while classmate Manny Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y.) nearly matched him (12 points, eight rebounds).

Sophomore guard Quinn Carey (Ponte Vedra, Fla.), the ECC's leader in three-point field goals, was held in check today by the Wildcat defense.  Carey finished with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting, and was held without a three-pointer for the first time since RWC's season opener.  Carey came into the game averaging 17.1 points with 33 three-pointers over the previous seven games.

RWC led early in the game, but Daemen took the lead on a three-pointer by Hannah at the 14:19 mark.  Carey's only bucket of the game made the score 22-19 in favor of Daemen with a little more than seven minutes left in the half.  That's when Daemen embarked on a 16-5 spurt to open up a 14-point lead (38-24) late in the period.  Hamilton and Hannah keyed the run with five points apiece.  RWC's Antoine Didier (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored a fast-break layup with under 10 seconds to go, bringing the Redhawks within 12 points at the break (38-26).

The second half featured several runs by both teams, but Daemen never relinquished the lead.  The Redhawks opened the period with an 11-2 spurt, cutting the Daemen lead to three points at 40-37.  Lewis scored twice in the run for RWC.

But, Daemen responded with a 17-6 spurt of their own to re-establish a double-figure advantage.  Hannah accounted for nine points in the run, including a three-pointer at the 11:36 mark which put the Wildcats on top 57-43.

Two layups by Dare then book-ended a 10-0 spurt for the Redhawks as they pulled back within four points (57-53) at the 8:12 mark.  Once again it was Hannah and Hamilton with the answer for Daemen as they scored the next two buckets.  Daemen's Aleks Miljenovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Roberts Wesleyan College) also hit for five points during the 9-4 Wildcat run which put the guests back ahead by nine points (66-57).

But, the Redhawks would not go away as they scored the next seven points, five of which came from Dare, to pull within two points at 66-64 with just under three minutes to play.  Daemen answered with Hamilton scoring on back-to-back possessions, including an old-fashioned three-point play.  After Mehmetaj canned a pair of free throws with 1:11 left to put Daemen in front by eight (73-65), RWC never got within a one-possession difference.  Starting with Hamilton's three-point play conversion at the 2:33 mark, Daemen shot 10-for-13 at the charity stripe down the stretch to keep the hosts at bay.

Daemen shot 44.4 percent from the field (28-for-63), connecting on 7-for-23 from long distance (30.4%).  The Wildcats outscored RWC by nine points at the free throw line, converting 17-of-24 (70.8%) compared to just 8-for-18 (44.4%) for the hosts.  RWC came into the game generating the second-most free throw attempts in the league, but also ranking last in free throw percentage.

The Redhawks enjoyed 52.5 percent field-goal shooting in the game (31-for-59), despite a 1-for-9 (11.1%) showing from three-point land.  The hosts committed 18 turnovers which Daemen turned in 17 points.  The Wildcats committed a season-low four turnovers in the game.

In securing their 18th win of the season today, Daemen has now recorded six consecutive seasons with at least that many victories.  They'll be moving on to their second consecutive berth in the ECC Tournament which features the top six teams in the final league standings.  Last season, as the No. 2 seed, Daemen earned a bye into the semifinal round where the Wildcats knocked off sixth-seeded Mercy College, 103-102 in an overtime, instant classic, before falling in the tournament finals to top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College.  

The Wildcats split the season series with their first-round opponent, the UDC Firebirds, including a 97-77 win at Lumsden Gymnasium in their most recent meeting back on Jan. 21.  The winner of Wednesday's contest moves on to the semifinal round.  The tournament semifinals (Saturday, March 4) and finals (Sunday, March 5) take place at Bridgeport's Hubbell Gymnasium.  Tip-off Wednesday is slated for 7 p.m. and a full game preview will be posted to daemenwildcats.com on Tuesday, Feb. 28.





 
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