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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
redband mbb vs bridgeport 2018 48
61
Winner Daemen DAEM 20-7, 14-3 ECC
58
LIU Post LIUPM 10-17, 8-9 ECC
Winner
Daemen DAEM
20-7, 14-3 ECC
61
Final
58
LIU Post LIUPM
10-17, 8-9 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 29 32 61
LIU Post LIUPM 29 29 58

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcats Hang On For 20th Win Of The Season

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team withstood a late Long Island University Post rally to hang on for a 61-58 victory in East Coast Conference action at the Pratt Recreation Center this evening. Daemen, which is ranked in eighth in the latest NCAA East Region poll, improved to 20-7 overall and 14-3 in league play. The Wildcats have now won 15 of their last 16 games, and they reach the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. LIU Post dropped to 10-17 overall and 8-9 in league play.

Today's win keeps Daemen's hopes for a top-two finish in the final ECC standings alive. The Wildcats have already clinched their third straight conference tournament berth and a top-three finish, but can still finish in second place with a win in their season finale Sunday at New York Institute of Technology, and a loss Saturday by Saint Thomas Aquinas College (23-6, 14-3 ECC). Should the teams end the season tied for second, a coin flip tiebreaker scenario will come into play, with the winner receiving the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinal round. 

Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) and Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) narrowly missed double-doubles tonight to pace the Wildcats. Sischo, the reigning ECC Co-Player of the Week, shot 10-for-14 from the field and totaled 23 points and nine rebounds. The redshirt freshman center has now recorded 19 consecutive games with at least 10 points, and tonight's production marked his seventh 20-point game of the season. Redband canned five three-pointers - one shy of his career-high - and tallied 18 points and nine boards. It was the 10th time out of 55 career games that Redband has made at least five triples.

Junior guard Darius Garvin (Emira, N.Y.) made his 30th consecutive start and chipped in with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in a team-high 38 minutes. Sophomore guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) was held to just four points - his lowest total since being inserted into the starting lineup 16 games ago - but he added four assists and a pair of steals to the Daemen cause.

Sophomore guard Jared Rivers (Westbury, N.Y.) paced the Pioneers with a game-high 24 points, including six in the final minute of play which nearly brought the Pioneers all the way back. Fifth-year senior Aary Bibens (Bennington, Vt.) and freshman Darien Jenkins (Deer Park, N.Y.) split 18 points, and sophomore forward Kyle Doucette (Lynn, Mass.) added eight points and eight boards.

There was no more than a six-point separation during a first half that ended with the teams going to the locker room tied at 29-29. Daemen grabbed the lead early in the second with a pair of Garvin free throws, and wouldn't relinquish it for the remainder of the contest. 

The Daemen lead was just one point (40-39) after back-to-back buckets by Doucette, but Daemen launched an 11-2 run that spanned nearly six minutes to seize control. Redband and Garvin buried three-pointers and Sischo notched five points in the spurt which was capped by the big man's jumper with 6:30 to go, giving Daemen its first double-figure lead (51-41) of the game.

The Daemen lead whittled to seven points (55-48) when Jenkins converted a pair of freebies with 3:01 remaining. Daemen responded with a three-pointer by Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) - his first and only field goal of the contest - to push it back to double figures.

The Pioneers outscored Daemen 10-3 down the stretch to get themselves back in contention. The Wildcat advantage was eight points (60-52) with 41 seconds remaining, but Rivers hit a trio of free throws after being fouled in the act of shooting behind the arc. Garvin missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Rivers buried a three-pointer with 19 ticks left to make it just a two-point deficit (60-58). Sarkis split a pair of free throws on Daemen's next possession, and after a timeout, the Wildcats came up with the defensive stop they needed as Kyle Taylor-McLeggan's (Jersey City, N.J.) game-tying three-point attempt was off the mark as time expired.

Daemen shot just 39.3 percent from the field (22-for-56), the first time they have been held under 40 percent since Nov. 14 against Mercyhurst University. But, LIU Post managed just 32.8 percent shooting (21-for-64) marking the 11th time this season Daemen has held its opponent under 40 percent shooting; the Wildcats are a perfect 11-0 in those contests. 

The win was just Daemen's second in six all-time games at the Pratt Recreation Center, and their first at the venue since the 2015-16 season. Daemen holds a 6-5 edge with three consecutive wins in the all-time series which dates back to the 2009-10 season. The win also delivered Daemen's 11th 20-win season since 1999-2000.

Daemen closes the regular season Sunday by visiting NYIT. The Bears (5-24, 3-14 ECC) have long been eliminated from postseason contention, but they're looking to finish strong and have won back-to-back games including a 94-84 overtime final tonight against playoff-bound Roberts Wesleyan College. Tip-off Sunday is set for 3:30 p.m.
 
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