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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
SARKIS MBB VS ROBERTS
Jay Sarkis moved into 10th place on Daemen's all-time assists list tonight
103
Winner Daemen DAEM 11-1, 2-0 ECC
59
Mercy MERCY-M 1-9, 0-2 ECC
Winner
Daemen DAEM
11-1, 2-0 ECC
103
Final
59
Mercy MERCY-M
1-9, 0-2 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 45 58 103
Mercy MERCY-M 25 34 59

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

Wildcats Race Past Mercy For 11th Straight Win

Daemen Shoots 65% In Second Half, Reaches Century Mark For First Time This Season

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. - Make it 11 straight wins now for the Daemen College men's basketball team as the Wildcats saw 12 different players score in a 103-59 rout of Mercy College tonight in an East Coast Conference matchup played at Victory Hall. The winning streak is now the longest of Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present), and it ties the Wildcats with Division I Liberty University for the longest active streak across all NCAA divisions. 

Daemen improved to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in ECC play. The Wildcats have not lost since their season opener on November 1, an 85-65 setback to defending national champion Northwest Missouri State University. Daemen came into today's game ranked No. 8 in both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) national polls. 

Mercy dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 1-9 overall and 0-2 in the league. Daemen also remained unbeaten in the all-time series with the Mavericks, improving to 14-0. 

TOP PERFORMERS
  • Redshirt junior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats. The Daemen big man narrowly missed his 11th double-double of the season, adding nine rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal to his stat line.
  • Daemen had a 52-15 advantage in points off the bench, led by a trio of reserve guards who reached double figures. Freshman guard Keith Slack (Rochester, N.Y.) drilled a career-high five three-pointers and totaled a career-high 15 points - his fourth double-figure game of the season. Senior guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) returned to the lineup after missing three straight games and finished with 11 points, six boards and three steals. Freshman guard Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) went 4-for-4 from the field, including 3-for-3 from behind the arc to finish with a career-high 11 points in just six minutes of action. 
  • Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) scored nine points (all in the first half) and added three assists, while fellow starter Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) hauled in a season-high 12 rebounds to go with three dimes.
  • Dayvon Cuffey played 39 minutes and totaled 12 points and seven rebounds to pace the Mavericks. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Daemen started slowly, making just three of their first 14 shot attempts. A 16-3 spurt gave them control midway through the first half, turning a slim 9-7 lead into a sizable 25-10 advantage. Back-to-back jumpers by Sarkis, including a rare four-point play sparked the run.
  • Mercy pulled within 36-25 on a layup by Korey Lee, but Daemen closed the half on a 9-0 run to take a 45-25 lead into the break. Redband scored seven points alone in the run which was capped by a buzzer-beating putback from Ziv Basden (Nassau, Bahamas).
  • The hosts were able to hang around through the early portions of the second half as the Daemen lead stayed mostly in the high-teens. A layup by Sischo at the 10:42 mark ignited a shut-the-door 23-7 spurt by the Wildcats, resulting in an 84-52 lead with just over five minutes to play. Sischo scored six points in the run, including a fastbreak slam off a feed by Harris. Slack caught fire during the run as well, canning four consecutive attempts from downtown.
  • The Daemen lead went over 40 points on Salzberg's three-pointer with 1:55 to play (97-56). His layup with just under a minute to go put Daemen over the century mark, and the lead ballooned to its widest points (44 points) on a layup by Chris Luke (Cortland, N.Y.) to provide the final margin. 
  • Daemen shot 65.8 percent in the second half, making 23 of 38 shots in the period. The Wildcats enjoyed 54.8 percent shooting for the game (40-for-73), and matched their season-high with 14 three-pointers. 
  • Mercy was held to just 20-of-62 shooting overall (32.3%) and 4-of-20 from downtown (20%).

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen has now won four straight games by at least 25 points. It marks their longest such streak since the first four games of the 2012-13 season.
  • The 44-point margin is Daemen's largest win in the series vs. Mercy, and their first win by at least 40 points since a 108-63 win over LIU Post last February. That also marks the last time Daemen surpassed 100 points in a game. 
  • Daemen's 11-game winning streak is the program's longest since a team-record 14-game streak during the 2013-14 season - Daemen's first as a member of the ECC. 
  • Daemen's 14 straight wins against the Mavericks ranks as their third-longest against a single opponent. Daemen has scored 18 straight wins against Roberts Wesleyan College (just extended last Saturday with a 96-70 win) and 16 straight wins against Houghton College. 
  • Daemen has now won 25 of their last 27 ECC games, dating back to February of 2018. That span includes 13 wins in their last 14 ECC road games. 
  • Redshirt senior forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) played in his 100th career game. He's the sixth player under the tutelage of head coach Mike MacDonald to reach the 100-game plateau. Redband totaled seven points in the game, increasing his career total to 1,143 which ranks 16th in program history.
  • Sarkis' three assists in the game increased his career total 274 as he moves past Monty Montgomery (1996-01) for 10th in program history. Sarkis has appeared in 92 games and made 86 starts, and tonight's performance included the 160th three-pointer of his career (eighth all-time).
  • Sischo recorded his 700th rebound in the game, and passed Rob Lange (1992-96) for ninth on the program's all-time scoring list. He's now totaled 1,352 points and 707 rebounds in 70 career games.
  • Daemen has made 10 or more three-pointers in six of the last seven games, averaging 11.4 made threes per game in that span. 
  • Daemen has now held three of their last four opponents under 60 points. The Wildcats are allowing 61.3 points on 38.8 percent shooting in the last four outings. 
  • Mercy played without 6-foot-8 forward Bryan Griffin, a first-team All-ECC selection last season. Griffin, who is averaging 19.2 points and 13.1 rebounds per game this season, missed the game with an injury.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Tonight's win sets the stage for Sunday's contest between two ECC heavyweights as #8/#8 Daemen meets #24/#17 St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill. The Spartans and Wildcats rank as the two winningest Division II programs in New York State since the start of the 2014-15 season. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
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