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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
WALLACE MBB VS ROBERTS
57
Queens (NY) QUEM 2-11, 1-3 ECC
65
Winner Daemen DAEM 14-4, 3-1 ECC
Queens (NY) QUEM
2-11, 1-3 ECC
57
Final
65
Daemen DAEM
14-4, 3-1 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Queens (NY) QUEM 18 39 57
Daemen DAEM 40 25 65

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

Wildcats Get Back On Track With 17th-Straight Home Win

Sischo-less Wildcats Build Big First Half Lead, Hold On Late Against Pesky Queens

AMHERST, N.Y. - Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) picked an opportune time for his best offensive game of the season as the redshirt senior scored 23 points to lead Daemen College past Queens College 65-57 in an East Coast Conference men's basketball game here tonight. 

Daemen improved to 14-4 on the season and 3-1 in conference play while extending their home winning streak to 17-straight games. The Wildcats' home-court success ranks as the fifth-longest active streak across NCAA Division II. Queens, which was playing its first game since December 21, dropped to 2-11 overall and 1-3 in the conference. 

The Wildcats played without star big man Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) who was injured near the conclusion of their loss last Saturday at Stonehill College. Sischo, who ranks sixth in scoring (25.5 ppg) and second in rebounding (12.4 rpg) among the Division II national leaders, is expected to miss some time, but is not feared lost for the season.

TOP PERFORMERS
  • Wallace turned in a season-high scoring effort by shooting 8-for-13 from the field, 2-for-2 from three-point range and 5-for-7 from the charity stripe. He added seven rebounds in 28 minutes of action. 
  • Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) was the only other double-figure scorer for Daemen, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.
  • Redshirt sophomore wing Tajmin Holt (Rochester, N.Y.) came off the bench to score a career-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. He also shared game-high honors with three assists, a total matched by teammate Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) who also tossed in eight points.
  • The Wildcats also got solid play from junior center Chris Luke (Cortland, N.Y.) who got the starting nod in place of Sischo. Luke scored four points - all in the opening four minutes of the game - and corralled a season-high 11 rebounds in just 16 minutes of work.
  • Tyrese Crosdale (13 points) and Elijah Bovell (10 points) paced the Knights, but combined to shoot just 10-for-25 from the field and 2-for-14 from three-point range. Bovell came into the game averaging 20.1 points per game, third-best in the ECC this season.  

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Daemen used some hot three-point shooting and clamp-down defense to build a 40-18 halftime lead. The Wildcats scored the game's first eight points, and led 17-2 less than seven minutes in.
  • The lead ballooned to 28-7 with 7:11 left in the first on a Wallace two-pointer, and to 37-16 on his thunderous one-handed dunk at the 1:25 mark. Harris' three-pointer in transition closed out the first-half scoring as Daemen took their largest lead of the game into the intermission.
  • The Wildcats shot 7-for-14 from long range in the half (16-for-29 overall), and limited Queens to just 7-for-28 (25%) overall and a chilly 1-for-11 (9%) from downtown.
  • The Daemen shooting chilled substantially in the second half, and Queens was able to gnaw away at the lead, thanks in part to 50 percent shooting after halftime (17-for-34).
  • The Knights cut the deficit to 44-31 on a Crosdale three-pointer, but that was met by six quick points from the Wildcats to push their advantage back to 19. 
  • Queens pulled within 11 points three times, but Daemen responded with points each time.
  • The Knights finally got the deficit to single digits when Crosdale converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 61-52 with 1:54 to go. They would draw as close as eight points in the final 90 seconds, but the clock expired before they could make further headway.

GAME NOTES
  • The game marked Daemen's first at home since a 96-70 win over Roberts Wesleyan College on Dec. 7. The Wildcats are now 9-0 at home this season, and 105-14 here since the start of the 2011-12 season. Daemen has posted 10 or more home wins in seven of the last eight seasons. Their last home loss came on Jan. 11, 2019 to Molloy College (72-71).
  • Daemen has won 10-straight and 17 of their last 19 ECC home games. Tonight's win was their 50th ECC home win since joining the league in 2013-14 (50-9 all-time in ECC home games).
  • Daemen has won seven-straight meetings with Queens, improving to 12-2 all-time against the Knights. Queens remains winless (0-7) in games played at Lumsden Gymnasium.
  • Daemen opened the season with 11 wins in their first 12 games, but entered today's game just 3-3 in their last six, all of which were played on the road. 
  • The 65 points scored are the fewest in a Daemen win since a 64-55 defeat of St. Michael's College on Dec. 29, 2018.
  • The 18 points allowed in the first half were the fewest Daemen has surrendered since holding Lake Erie College to 21 first-half points on Nov. 26, 2018.
  • The 57 total points allowed match Daemen's season-low. Queens is the fourth opponent Daemen has held to less than 60 points this season. 
    Daemen is now 3-0 in the last two seasons with Sischo out of the lineup. The Wildcats scored wins over St. Michael's and the College of St. Rose last season when he was out with an injury. 
  • Daemen is ranked No. 5 in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll, and receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) top-25 national poll. The Wildcats have been ranked as high as eighth in the country this season. 
  • Wallace has now scored in double figures seven times this season, and is averaging 10.2 points per game. The 6-foot-4 wing is the son of former Syracuse University star and NBA veteran John Wallace. He played 85 games at Southern Connecticut State University before transferring to Daemen this season. Today's game marked his first 20-point outing since notching 22 in a 98-91 Southern Connecticut win over the College of St. Rose on Feb. 9, 2019.
  • Harris reached double figures for the sixth time in the last seven games. He's averaging 15.0 points per game in that stretch. 

NEXT JUMP BALL
A big ECC matchup sits on the horizon as the Wildcats welcome the Bridgeport Purple Knights to Lumsden Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. UB will come in at 11-2 overall and 4-0 in league play this season. They extended their winning streak to a region-best seven in a row with an 85-77 defeat of Roberts Wesleyan College tonight in Rochester. 
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