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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
sischo mbb vs nw missouri
Andrew Sischo recorded the 26th double-double of his career tonight
65
Daemen DAEM 0-1
85
Winner Northwest Mo. St. NMSU 1-0
Daemen DAEM
0-1
65
Final
85
Northwest Mo. St. NMSU
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 27 38 65
Northwest Mo. St. NMSU 39 46 85

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

Upset Bid Falls Short For #22 Daemen Against Top-Ranked NW Missouri State

Wildcats' 17-Game Winning Streak In Regular-Season Openers Halted; Bearcats Extend Winning Streak To 39 Straight Games

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - A bid to shock the NCAA Division II men's basketball world came up short as No. 22 Daemen College fell 85-65 to the No. 1 ranked team in the country, defending national champion Northwest Missouri State University, tonight at the prestigious Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic. The two-day event features eight of the top Division II teams in the land, including five who are ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) preseason top-25 poll released earlier this week.

The win extended the Bearcats' winning streak to 39 straight games. NMSU became just the fifth team in Division II men's basketball history to complete a perfect season in 2018-19, capped by their 64-58 victory over Point Loma University in the national championship game. 

On the flip side, Daemen opens a season at 0-1 for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The Wildcats brought a 17-game winning streak in regular-season openers into tonight's contest, only to see that streak halted by the Bearcats.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • A sluggish start proved costly as the Wildcats fell behind 20-7 less than eight minutes into the contest. The Bearcats, who are making their second straight appearance at the SCB National Hall of Fame Classic and playing just 42 miles from their campus, opened the game by hitting four of their first five three-point attempts to build their early lead.
  • Daemen trailed by as many as 17 points (26-9) in the opening frame, before redshirt-senior wing Donte' Williams (Buffalo, N.Y.) provided a spark off the bench. Williams canned three of his four field goal attempts in the period, including back-to-back three-pointers which brought Daemen back within eight points at 33-25. The Bearcats took a 39-27 lead into halftime, aided by 61 percent shooting (17-of-28) in the period.
  • The Bearcat lead stayed in double figures almost exclusively through the first 14 minutes of the second half. Daemen's Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) cut it to a nine-point deficit (70-61) with a free throw at the 5:26 mark, but that's as close as the Wildcats would get. NMSU built the lead back to 17 points by the 3:04 mark, and later extended to the final 20-point margin.
  • Turnovers were extremely costly to the Wildcats' cause. Daemen committed 16 miscues in the game (compared to just seven for NMSU) which the Bearcats turned into a 25-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
  • The duo of Ryan Hawkins and Trevor Hudgins paced the Bearcats as each netted 24 points. Hawkins shot 9-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-9 from three-point range. Hudgins, who earned SCB National Hall of Fame Classic MVP honors last season, made a living at the charity stripe (10-for-10) while adding nine rebounds and seven assists.
  • Diego Bernard added 19 points and six assists for the Bearcats.
  • Daemen was led by redshirt-junior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) who notched another double-double - the 26th of his career. Sischo shared game-high honors with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, and corralled 15 rebounds. He also tallied a career-high five assists. 
  • Wallace chipped in with 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half. 
  • Williams finished with eight points, all of which came in the first half.

HEAD COACH MIKE MACDONALD POST-GAME COMMENTS
"I really thought we battled well. The turnovers really hurt us, especially early on. But, once we settled in I thought we were able to do some good things. We got some nice play off the bench from guys like Donte' [Williams], Keith [Slack] and Kyle [Harris], and I thought we really went toe-to-toe with them in the second half. In the end, we probably turned it over too much in transition to get the win, but I really liked our compete level. We'll learn from this, we'll get better. That's what games like this are for."

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen is nationally-ranked to start a season for the first time in its NCAA Division II era (2015-present). The Wildcats finished the 2018-19 season ranked No. 22 in the NABC poll after posting a 24-6 overall record, capturing the program's second East Coast Conference regular-season championship and first NCAA tournament berth.
  • Daemen has also been picked No. 1 in the ECC preseason coaches poll, and tied for No. 1 in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region preseason media poll. 
  • Daemen was seeking its third win against a nationally-ranked opponent since the start of the 2018-19 season; the Wildcats are now 2-2 against top-25 teams in that span.
  • The loss marked Daemen's first in a regular-season opener since a 75-35 defeat at Spring Hill (Ala.) on Nov. 2, 2001. 
  • The Wildcats are now 41-9 in their last 50 games, dating back to Dec. 31, 2017. 
  • The contest featured two teams that played exhibition contests against Atlantic Coast Conference teams from Division I. Daemen dropped a 90-71 decision at Syracuse University last Saturday; at the same time, Northwest Missouri State was playing Duke University to a 69-63 final. 
  • The game was delayed nearly 50 minutes from its original tip-off time (5:30 CDT) in part due to the prior game needing overtime to decide. 
  • Other day one results from the SCB National Hall of Fame Classic include a 99-89 overtime win for No. 7 West Texas A&M over No. 6 Lincoln Memorial University, and a 77-68 win for Davenport University over USC-Aiken. 

UP NEXT
Daemen closes the SCB National Hall of Fame Classic by facing Missouri Western State University tomorrow evening with tip-off slated for 7:45 PM local time (8:45 EDT). 
 
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