Box Score

Roberts Wesleyan RWCM 2-7, 0-1 ECC

Daemen DAEM 10-1, 1-0 ECC

Roberts Wesleyan RWCM

2-7, 0-1 ECC

Final

Dec. 07, 2019

Daemen DAEM

10-1, 1-0 ECC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Roberts Wesleyan RWCM	34	36	70
Daemen DAEM	46	50	96

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 12/7/2019 6:19:00 PM | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcats Race Past Redhawks For 10th Straight Win

Daemen Matches Program's Longest Winning Streak Of Division II Era

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AMHERST, N.Y. - Make it 10 straight wins overall, 16 straight at home and 18 consecutive in the Thruway Rivalry series for the Daemen College men's basketball team which raced to a 96-70 victory over Roberts Wesleyan College today at Lumsden Gymnasium. Five players scored in double figures as the Wildcats improved to 10-1 overall and 1-0 in East Coast Conference play. The visiting Redhawks dropped to 2-7 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Daemen's 10-game winning streak matches the longest of the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present), and it marks the second straight season that Daemen has put together a streak of that length. It also now ranks as the longest active streak across all NCAA divisions following a loss today by Northwest Missouri State University. The Bearcats, defending national champions in Division II and the team to hand Daemen its only loss of the season, saw their 46-game winning streak come to an end today vs. Central Missouri University

TOP PERFORMERS

It was just another day at the office for redshirt junior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) who posted his third straight double-double, and his 10th of the season. Sischo shot 12-for-17 from the field and finished with game-highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Redshirt senior guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) recorded his second straight double-figure scoring game, finishing with a season-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Sarkis knocked down a pair of three-pointers and added a game-high three steals.
Redshirt senior wing Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half, and posted season-highs for rebounds (9) and assists (7).
Redshirt seniof forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) and freshman guard Keith Slack (Rochester, N.Y.) also reached double figures for Daemen. Redband had a pair of three-pointers as part of a 10-point outing, while Slack came off the bench to score 11 points, including a 6-for-6 showing from the free throw line.
Tajmin Holt (Rochester, N.Y.) and Chris Luke (Cortland, N.Y.) also gave stong efforts off the Daemen bench. Holt had a season-best seven points, and Luke had season-highs in minutes (5), points (4) and rebounds (3).
Armon Nasseri netted 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting to pace the Redhawks.
Reggie Clark (13 points), Shane Fanning (12), Amari Lee (11) and Zecaree Veiga (11) also reached double figures for RWC.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Daemen opened up a 20-7 lead less than six minutes into the game with Sischo and Wallace keying the run, combining for 15 early points.
After Roberts Wesleyan got within five points (20-15), Daemen used a 15-6 spurt to regain a sizable edge (35-21). The Wildcats would lead by as many as 15 points in the period, and took a 46-34 lead into halftime.
Some sloppy play by Daemen at the second half's outset allowed the Redhawks to creep within three points. RWC outscored Daemen 15-6 over the first six minutes of the period. Fanning's three-pointer at the 14:25 mark brought them within 52-49.
Daemen responded with back-to-back buckets by Holt, including just his second three-pointer of the season. The Holt field goals sparked a 16-5 spurt for the hosts. A no-look pass in transition from redshirt freshman Ryan Bradley (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) resulted in an emphatic one-handed slam by Sischo, prompting a Roberts Wesleyan timeout with 11:41 to play. The stoppage didn't hold the Wildcats back though as the lead went back to double figures (65-54) on a Sischo layup, and Redband's three-pointer with 9:50 to go made it a 14-point Wildcat advantage (68-54).
The Redhawks never got it back within single digits from there. The Daemen lead grew to 20 points on Sarkis' three-pointer near the four-minute mark, and it would go on to swell to 27 points (96-69) on a triple by Da'Shawn Hines (Amherst, N.Y.) inside of the final minute.

HEAD COACH MIKE MACDONALD POST-GAME COMMENTS
"I thought it was a really good team win for us. We got some nice contributions from guys off the bench. Joey Wallace had a great all-around game, but the guys like Tajmin (Holt), Chris (Luke) and Keith (Slack) really gave us some sparks off the bench. We felt like we turned it over a little too much in the first half, and that gave Roberts some easy buckets. But, we cleaned that up in the second half and that obviously helped us both offensively and defensively."

GAME NOTES

Daemen is ranked in the top-15 of both national polls for Division II. The Wildcats have been ranked in 11 straight National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) top-25 polls, including their highest-ever ranking this week at No. 11. They're also at their highest ascent in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) national media poll, coming in at No. 8 this week.
The 26-point margin tonight marked Daemen's third straight win by 25 points or more. The Wildcats were coming off a season-high 30-point defeat (89-59) of Salem University earlier this week.
Daemen's 16-game home winning streak ranks as the fifth-longest active streak in Division II. It's Daemen's longest streak at home since posting 44 straight wins between 2011-15. Daemen has won 31 of their last 33 home games dating back to the 2017-18 season. Since the start of the 2011-12 campaign, Daemen has won 104 of their 118 home games (.881 winning percentage).
Daemen's 18-game winning streak against Roberts Wesleyan ranks as their longest vs. any singular opponent, and one of three that have reached double digits (also 13 straight wins vs. Mercy College and 16 straight wins vs. Houghton College). Today's result was the largest margin of victory in the streak, and the fifth win by 20 points or more. Roberts Wesleyan's last win over Daemen came on Feb. 15, 2011 (73-54). Daemen has won 25 of the last 26 meetings.
The Wildcats improved to 40-12 overall and 24-2 at home against the Redhawks.
Daemen has won 32 of their last 37 conference games dating back to the start of the 2017-18 season. The Wildcats also improved to 49-9 all-time in ECC home games.
Sischo, who entered the game as the national leader in double-doubles, has now totaled 35 double-doubles in 69 career games. He moved into the top 10 on Daemen's career scoring list today, passing Devon Dawson. Sischo has totaled 1,326 points and 698 rebounds in his career.
Sarkis finished without an assist for the first time this season. With 271 assists in his career, he remains one back of Monty Montgomery for 10th place in program history.