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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
sischo mbb vs buffalo
87
Winner Daemen DAEM 14-3, 6-1 ECC
85
Bridgeport BPTM 8-9, 3-4 ECC
Winner
Daemen DAEM
14-3, 6-1 ECC
87
Final
85
Bridgeport BPTM
8-9, 3-4 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 43 44 87
Bridgeport BPTM 41 44 85

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

Road Warriors: #19 Daemen Extends ECC Road Winning Streak To 12

Wildcats Knock Off ECC Preseason Favorite Bridgeport In Nail-Biter

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - For the second time in the last 48 hours, the Daemen College men's basketball team emerged with a one-possession victory, overcoming a 14-point first-half to deficit en route to an 87-85 win over the University of Bridgeport in an East Coast Conference contest at Hubbell Gymnasium this afternoon. Daemen, which was coming off a 75-74 win at Mercy on Friday evening, has now won 12 consecutive ECC road games in a streak that dates back more than a full calendar year. The Wildcats, ranked 19th in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) national media poll, are now 14-3 overall and 6-1 in league play this season. Bridgeport saw its modest three-game winning streak go by the wayside as they fell to 8-9 overall and 3-4 in the league. The Purple Knights were picked first in the ECC preseason poll after going 25-6 overall and 17-1 in the league last season. 

Five players scored in double figures for the Wildcats, including Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) and Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y.) who shared team-high honors with 18 points. Sischo shot 8-of-15 from the field, and added 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. He also registered two blocks, one of which came on a crucial possession down the stretch. Hamilton went 4-of-6 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Daemen is 21-8 when Hamilton shoots 50 percent or better from the field.

Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) knocked down a trio of three-pointers, increasing his ECC-best season total to 53, as part of a 13-point outing. With 190 three-pointers in his career, Redband is closing in on becoming just the fifth player in team history to reach 200. Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.) each scored 13 points apiece. For Garvin, it was a season-high performance as he shot 4-of-5 from both the field and free throw line. The senior guard has been slowed by injuries this season, and today's output marked his first game in double figures since scoring 12 points in an ECC Championship opening-round win over Roberts Wesleyan College on Feb. 28, 2018.

The loss, just Bridgeport's fifth at Hubbell Gymnasium in the last two seasons, spoiled a tremendous individual effort from the Purple Knights' John Middleton. The junior guard/forward came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range. Bakary Camara (16 points) and Eric Rankin (14 points) also reached double figures for Bridgeport who came into the game averaging 90.3 points per game, seventh-best in the country this season.

The hosts enjoyed hot shooting at the game's outset, knocking down six three-pointers in the first 12 minutes while they built a 29-15 lead. The UB advantage was 11 points (36-25) when Daemen embarked on an 18-5 spurt to take a 43-41 lead into halftime. Back-to-back three-pointers by Garvin and Redband pulled Daemen within 36-33, then Garvin evened the score with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 2:40 mark. The Wildcats grabbed the lead when Garvin converted another hoop-and-harm scenario with nine seconds remaining in the period.

The teams were never separated by more than five points in the entire second half. Daemen led 65-60 when Redband canned a pair of freebies at the 12:15 mark. Bridgeport came back and scored 10 of the next 13 points, drawing even (65-65) on a Middleton trifecta and surging ahead (70-68) on an old-fashioned three-point play by Camara with 6:15 remaining. The teams traded points over the next several minutes with Bridgeport leading by as many as three points. A three-pointer by Hamilton knotted the score at 77-77, and after Hashem Abbas split a pair of free throws for Bridgeport, Daemen regained the lead (79-78) when Sischo found a cutting Garvin for a layup with 2:39 to play.

Bridgeport came up empty on their next possession, and Sischo scored at the other end to increase the Daemen lead to 81-78. But, Dennis Green drilled a three-pointer for the Purple Knights to tie the score with under two minutes to play. Bridgeport had a chance to take the lead after a Daemen turnover, but Sischo denied Abbas at the rim, and then the Daemen big man got fouled on the offensive end where he calmly sank two free throws with 57 ticks remaining to give the Wildcats a slim 83-81 lead. 

Green was fouled with 38 seconds left and went to the line with a chance to tie the score, but he split the pair, leaving Daemen ahead by the slimmest of margins. Daemen regained possession and sent Garvin to the free throw line after he was fouled while driving to the hoop with 17 seconds remaining. He made both free throws to put Daemen ahead by three (85-82). Bridgeport's rush up the floor for a potential game-tying attempt resulted in a turnover, and Hamilton was fouled after coming up with the loose ball. His two free throws with eight seconds left essentially sealed the game. Bridgeport added a three-point play by Middleton, but with 0.3 seconds on the clock, Daemen just had to get it inbounds without incident which they did. 

Daemen was nearly flawless from the charity stripe as they shot 26-for-29. It marked a season-high in made free throws, as well as their most efficient shooting performance of the season (89.7%). The free throw shooting helped the Wildcats overcome a disparity in total made field goals (32 for Bridgeport, 27 for Daemen) and three-point field goals (13 for Bridgeport, seven for Daemen). The Purple Knights went just 8-of-13 from the free throw line. Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field.

The win snapped Daemen's two-game losing streak in the all-time series with Bridgeport, giving them six wins in 11 all-time meetings. It also marked Daemen's first win at Hubbell Gymnasium since the teams' first-ever meeting, a 90-79 final on Jan. 18, 2014. 

In their current 12-game ECC road winning streak, Daemen has defeated every team in the league. Their last road loss came at Hubbel Gymnasium on Dec. 17, 2017 to a then-nationally-ranked Bridgeport squad. Since joining the ECC (beginning with the 2013-14 season), Daemen is 36-17 in all ECC road games. 

Overall, Daemen has won 20 of their last 22 conference games. The Wildcats are 31-5 since Dec. 31, 2017.

Daemen will return to Lumsden Gymnasium where they'll kick off a three-game homestand on Friday night (Jan. 25) with nationally-ranked (#14/#12) and ECC unbeaten Saint Thomas Aquinas College (15-2, 7-0 ECC) heading to town.

For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

 
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