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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
harris mbb @ rwc 2018 3
77
Winner Bridgeport BPTM 17-4, 10-1 ECC
71
Daemen DAEM 14-7, 8-3 ECC
Winner
Bridgeport BPTM
17-4, 10-1 ECC
77
Final
71
Daemen DAEM
14-7, 8-3 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Bridgeport BPTM 46 31 77
Daemen DAEM 26 45 71

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Lea Sobieraski Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Second Half Comeback Falls Just Short For Men's Basketball

Sophomore Breon Harris registers a career-high 28 points in Daemen loss

AMHERST, N.Y. – A crazy second-half comeback by the Daemen College men's basketball team came up just short this afternoon at Lumsden Gymnasium as the Bridgeport Purple Knights held on for a 77-71 victory in an East Coast Conference showdown. Daemen trailed by 20 points at halftime, and by as many as 24 in the second half, but outscored UB 45-31 in the final 20 minutes, narrowing Bridgeport's lead to just two points with just 19 seconds left in regulation.

Bridgeport, which came into the game ranked No. 1 in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll and No. 20 in the D2SIDA national poll, improved to 17-4 on the season and 10-1 in the ECC with the victory. The Purple Knights have won eight straight games. Daemen, the No. 9 ranked team in the East Region, saw their region-best nine-game winning streak come to an end, falling to 14-7 overall with an 8-3 conference mark.  

Senior Sam Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the way for the Purple Knights with 23 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sharif Cobb (Harlem, N.Y) and D'Vonne Trumbo (Pilesgrove, N.J.) also reached double-digit scoring with 14 points apiece. Trumbo also chipped in with a team-best six rebounds, five assists and three steals for UB.

Sophomore guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) put on a show in front of a packed Lumsden Gymnasium crowd, scoring in double digits for the seventh time in the last nine games. The Niagara Falls native notched a career-high 28 points to lead the Wildcats. Harris was the spark that ignited the Wildcat rally, netting 22 points in the final 13:17 of the game, during which Wildcats outscored the Purple Knights 33-15. Harris connected on 10-of-16 shots from the field (62.5%) and he added seven rebounds, six steals and two assists.  

Junior guard Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.) and redshirt freshman center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) joined Harris in double figures, each registering 14 points. Garvin went a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, while connecting on 3-of-9 from the field, and he dished out a team-high three assists. Sischo, a five-time ECC Rookie of the week selection, recorded 14 points in 25 minutes and hauled down a team-high nine rebounds.  

The Purple Knights outscored the Wildcats 25-10 in the first 11 minutes of first-half action, burying five three-pointers in that span. Joseph and Cobb each notched two three-pointers apiece. Harris slammed-home a dunk to get the Wildcats within 13-points at the 8:36 mark, but UB continued its smothering pressure defense and widened the gap to 20 points at the half (44-24). Bridgeport's 20-point lead at the half was the largest deficit Daemen has faced at home since January 7, 2016, when the Wildcats trailed St. Thomas Aquinas 46-27. Bridgeport nailed nine of their ten three-point baskets in the first half, shooting 64.3 percent from beyond the arc in the period. The Wildcats, on the other hand, made a season-low three three-pointers, going 3-for-14 (21.4%) in the game (0-for-8 in the first half).

In the first seven minutes of the second half, it appeared as if the Purple Knights would leave Buffalo with a big time victory as they enlarged their advantage to 24 points (62-38). However, Harris turned it on, leading the Daemen comeback charge with 12 straight points including a monstrous dunk and one of the squad's trey-balls to cap the run. Garvin and Jeff Reband (Batavia, N.Y.) each hit three-pointers for back-to-back Daemen buckets, as the hosts inched closer, only trailing by eight (64-56) with 8:20 to go.

Both teams continued to fight, trading baskets back-and-forth for a true cinematic ECC showdown. After Daemen narrowed the gap to four points (71-67) on a transition layup by Harris, Joseph hit a jumper at the 1:32 mark to give Bridgeport a little more breathing room. But, the Wildcats responded with four consecutive points, two freebies from Harris and a fancy layup through traffic from Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) to cut the UB lead down to only two at 73-71 with 19 seconds to play. That's as close as the Wildcats would get, however. On the ensuing Bridgeport possession, UB went for the home run with a long pass over Daemen's full court press. Bakary Camara's layup was off the mark, but Hashem Abbas corralled the rebound and was fouled. Abbas, who had missed the front end of a one-and-one on the previous UB possession, calmly canned both free throws, making it a two possession game (75-71) with 13 seconds left. Daemen went on to commit its 26th turnover of the contest on their next possession, and two free throws by Cobb in the waning seconds seal the deal for UB.

Up next, Daemen plays on the road against St. Thomas Aquinas (Feb. 2) and District of Columbia (Feb. 4) next weekend.  

Follow Daemen College athletics on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
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