DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. - Junior guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) capped a phenomenal all-around game by scoring five points in the final 30 seconds to lift nationally-ranked Daemen College to a 75-74 win over upset-minded Mercy College in East Coast Conference men's basketball action here tonight. With the Wildcats trailing 74-70, Harris nailed a three-pointer - his career-high sixth of the night - with 21 seconds left, then scored the go-ahead basket on an acrobatic play with  just 12 ticks on the clock. The Mercy inbounds pass was deflected by forward Quinn Lee Yaw (Jamestown, N.Y.), allowing Harris to corrall the loose ball near the rim and shoot it through the goal, all in a single motion. Mercy's Sal Barbetto had a look at the other end to win the game, but his runner was off the mark.

Daemen improved to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in league play this season. The win also marked their 11th straight ECC road win, and the 350th in the career of head coach Mike MacDonald. Now in his fifth season at Daemen, MacDonald is 94-40 with the Wildcats after racking up a combined 256 wins over nine seasons at Division I Canisius College and eight seasons at Division III Medaille College. 

Mercy dropped its fifth straight game, falling to 4-10 overall and 2-4 in ECC play. Daemen in unbeaten (12-0) in the all-time series with the Mavericks.

Harris, who shot 0-for-17 from the field over two home games last weekend, broke out of his shooting slump in a big way tonight. The Niagara Falls native scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-10 from downtown. It marked his third 20-point game of the season, and the sixth of his career. He added five rebounds and four steals as well, and Daemen is now 30-5 since he entered the starting lineup on Dec. 31, 2017.

Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) came alive after a quiet first half, scoring 14 of his 17 points in the second. The Daemen big man, who was recently named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List, shot 7-for-11 from the field and added six rebounds and two blocks. 

Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.), Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) and Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y.) joined Harris with multiple three-pointers. Daemen matched their season-high with 14 three-balls in the game. Redband, who entered the game as the nation's number one three-point field shooter in terms of percentage, canned 4-of-10 from deep as part a 14-point outing. Sarkis knocked down a pair of triples and totaled 10 points to go with a season-high eight assists. Hamilton finished with six points, all coming on his two three-pointers. 

Redshirt sophomore center Bryan Griffin was the top dog for Mercy, scoring 22 points and grabbing 17 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. The Mavericks also got a career-high 21 points from Tawayne Anderson who shot 8-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range. Barbetto tossed in 13 points, including 11 in the second half.

The game featured 17 lead changes, nine of which came in the opening 20 minutes. Neither team led by more than four points, and Daemen closed the period on a 5-0 spurt, turning a 29-26 deficit into a 31-29 lead.

Mercy opened up their largest lead of the game less than four minutes into the second half. A pair of Daquon Ervin free throws gave the hosts a 43-38 advantage. Daemen stormed back with a 9-2 spurt. A three-pointer by Redband followed by consecutive Harris trey-balls accounted for all the Daemen scoring. The Mavericks wouldn't go away though, and they regained the lead at 49-47 on a jumper by Barbetto. 

Daemen clawed back ahead on another Redband triple, this one at the 11:19 mark to make the score 53-51. The jumper ignited a 16-8 run as Daemen built their largest lead. Sischo scored six points in the spurt, including an offensive rebound and putback at the 4:50 mark that made the score 66-59. Again Mercy battled back, scoring eight straight points and retaking the lead (67-66) on a Barbetto layup with exactly three minutes play. Lee Yaw's jumper quickly put Daemen back on top, but the lead changed again when Mercy's Kory Lee made his only field goal of the game, a go-ahead three-pointer with 2:09 to play. Sischo knotted the score at 70-70 with a pair of free throws, but Ervin's jumper with 1:14 on the clock gave the lead back to the hosts. 

Daemen came up empty on its next two possessions, both with a chance to tie or take the lead. Griffin converted on a one-and-one free throw situation for Mercy, putting the Mavericks on top 74-70 with 27 seconds left. The free throws essentially capped a 15-4 run which put Mercy in position for their most significant win of the season. But, Harris had other ideas as he drilled a pull-up three-pointer to bring Daemen within one, then converted the go-ahead basket after the Mercy miscue.

Daemen shot 17-for-31 in the second half (54.8%), and converted on 45 percent of their field goal attempts in the game (28-of-62). The Wildcats' three-point barrage came on 42 percent shooting (14-of-33), and they made 8-of-16 from downtown in the second half alone. 

The Wildcats came into the game as the top team in the ECC (and 19th in the country) in field goal percentage defense, but Mercy shot 50 percent from the field (28-of-56). Mercy shot 4-for-6 from three-point range in the second half, but that came after a chilly 1-for-11 showing in the first. 

Daemen, which is ranked first in the region and 19th in the country (D2SIDA regional and national polls), will remain in the New York City metro area in preparation for Sunday's game at the University of Bridgeport.

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