AMHERST, N.Y. – Redshirt sophomore Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) registered his fifth double-double in as many games this season to lead Daemen College to a 71-51 victory over Lake Erie College here tonight in non-conference men's basketball action.
Daemen, which is ranked sixth in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) East Region poll, remained undefeated at Lumsden Gymnasium (4-0) this season and improved to 4-1 overall. The Wildcats are now 86-13 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season. Lake Erie, a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, suffered its second-straight loss and dropped to 3-3 on the year.
Sischo, who was named East Coast Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season earlier today, overcame a slow start and finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Thirteen of his 20 points came after halftime, and it marked his 13th career double-double. He's posted six straight double-doubles dating back to the end of last season. Sischo is now averaging 22.4 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and ranks fifth among the East Region scoring leaders and second among the East Region rebounding leaders. Redshirt senior Quinn Lee Yaw (Jamestown, N.Y.) turned in a solid effort off the bench for the Wildcats, as he played a season-high 26 minutes, was good on all six of his shots and finished with a season-high 13 points and a season-high seven rebounds.
Junior Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) added 11 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals for the hosts, while redshirt senior Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y.) played a team-high 35 minutes and totaled nine points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists. Redshirt junior Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) drilled two three-pointers and finished with eight points and six boards. Redband has now totaled 150 career three-pointers and becomes the seventh player in program history to register 150 or more three-pointers.
Senior center David Dunnigan (Cleveland, Ohio) was the only player to reach double figures in scoring for the The Storm. Making his first start of the season, he connected on 6-of-10 shots and totaled 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Junior guard Erron James (Westerville, Ohio) helped the LEC cause with seven points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Junior guard Gabe Kynard (Toledo, Ohio), who entered the game averaging 19.4 points per game, netted just seven points (2-of-10 FGs) and failed to score in double figures for the first time this season.
The game was tied at 8-8 six minutes into the contest when the Wildcats took control with a 24-8 run over the next 10 minutes. Six different players scored during the run, which featured two dunks by Lee Yaw and two three-pointers by Harris. The second triple by Harris with 4:21 left before halftime capped the rally and gave the Wildcats a 32-16 lead. Daemen took a 37-21 lead into the break.
The teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half and the Daemen lead was still 16 points (44-28) when senior Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.) fed Harris for a back-door, two-handed slam that sparked the hosts on a 12-0 run. Sischo scored seven of the 12 points, and his two free throws with 12:59 to play capped the run and gave Daemen a 56-28 lead. LEC came no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.
Daemen shot 49-percent (27-for-55) from the field overall and canned 7-of-18 from three-point land. The Wildcats finished 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. The Storm shot just 23-percent (10-for-43) from the field in the second half and finished 19-for-75 (25%) overall. LEC went just 5-of-23 from downtown and made 8-of-12 free throws. LEC finished with a 46-41 edge in total rebounds and a 16-9 edge in second-chance points. The Wildcats held the advantage in points off turnovers (15-10), bench points (18-11) and points in the paint (38-26).
The Wildcats are idle until Dec. 5 when they open East Coast Conference play at rival Roberts Wesleyan College.
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