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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
redband mbb vs liu post
83
Molloy MOLM 7-10, 4-3 ECC
91
Winner Daemen DAEM 16-5, 5-2 ECC
Molloy MOLM
7-10, 4-3 ECC
83
Final
91
Daemen DAEM
16-5, 5-2 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Molloy MOLM 34 49 83
Daemen DAEM 44 47 91

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

Wildcats Hang On For Key ECC Win Over Molloy

Redband, Sischo & Sarkis All Score 20+ Points To Lead Daemen

AMHERST, N.Y. - Veteran players Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.), Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) and Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) all reached the 20-point mark to lead Daemen College to a 91-83 win over scrappy Molloy College in an East Coast Conference men's basketball game before a near capacity crowd at Lumsden Gymnasium tonight.

Daemen, which had been averaging 66.8 points in six games this month, broke out of an offensive slump, thanks in part to superior free throw shooting. The Wildcats canned 30-of-37 shots from the charity stripe while surpassing the 80-point mark for the first time since Dec. 19. Daemen is now 10-1 this season when scoring at least 80 points. The Wildcats had done so in 11 of their first 14 games this season before their recent six-game funk.

The Wildcats improved to 16-5 overall as well as 5-2 in ECC play with tonight's win. They also grab sole possession of third place in the conference standings as they look to keep up with the likes of idle University of Bridgeport (15-2, 7-0 ECC) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (16-3, 6-1 ECC). Molloy, which came into the game tied with Daemen in the standings, dropped to 7-10 overall and 4-3 in the league. 

TOP PERFORMERS
  • Redband shot 7-for-11 from the field, 5-for-9 three-point range and 7-for-7 from the free throw line, totaling a career-high 26 points. He caught fire in the second half, making three triples and scoring 16 points. 
  • Sischo made just five field goals - his lowest total since making four against Missouri Western State University on Nov. 2 - but managed to hit 11-of-14 from the free throw line while recording his Division II-leading 15th double-double of the season. He finished with 22 points (12 in the second half) and 11 boards.
  • Sarkis had the hot hand early, making three three-pointers in the first half. He finished with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-9 from downtown. 
  • Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) also reached double figures, scoring 16 points. Redband Sischo, Sarkis and Wallace accounted for 84 of Daemen's 91 points.
  • The loss spoiled a tremendous individual effort from Molloy senior guard Nick Corbett who finished with a game-high 33 points on 14-of-27 shooting (5-of-10 from three-point range). 
  • Pano Pavlidis recorded a double-double (10 points, game-high 15 rebounds), and Molloy also got double-figure scoring from Steven Torre (12) and James Montgomery (11). .

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Molloy was hot early and opened up an 11-5 lead less than three minutes into the game.
  • The first half would feature three ties and nine lead changes as the teams went back-and-forth. With Molloy leading 28-26, Daemen launched on a half-closing 18-6 run. They scored the final seven points of the period, including Sischo's first field goal of the game with 30 seconds remaining to take a 44-34 lead into the break. 
  • The Wildcat lead reached 61-48 when Kyle Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) made a jumper at the 13:17 mark of the second, but Molloy refused to die. The Lions embarked on a 16-7 spurt, pulling within 68-64 with less than nine minutes to play on a layup by Montgomery.
  • Daemen responded with a 9-2 run of their own, re-establishing an 11-point lead (77-66) on Sischo's three-pointer at the 5:08 mark.
  • An 8-0 spurt for the Lions spanning just 42 seconds brought them back within 77-74. Corbett and Nolan Kelly drilled back-to-back three-pointers in the run. Sischo scored inside on the other end, but Pavlidis' jumper at the 2:23 mark made it a one-possession game (79-76) again.
  • That's as close as the Lions would get though. Sarkis canned a huge three-pointer to push it back to a six-point lead, Molloy shot just 2-for-10 in the final two minutes, and Daemen made good on 9-of-12 at the free throw line in the same span to seal the win.
  • Molloy was the more efficient team from the field (34-for-76, 44.7%; Daemen: 25-for-62, 40.3%), but was outscored by 26 points at the free throw line. Both teams made 11 three-pointers in the game.
  • Daemen committed a season-low nine turnovers. Molloy turned it over 18 times resulting in 16 Daemen points.

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen is now 10-1 at home this season - the eighth time in the last nine seasons they've reached double-figure home wins. The Wildcats have won 33 of their last 36 home games, and are 107-15 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season.
  • Tonight's win was the 100th of Daemen's NCAA Division II era. Since gaining full NCAA membership prior to the 2015-16 season, Daemen has posted a 100-38 record (.724 winning percentage).
  • It was Daemen's fifth win this season when scoring at least 90 points, and their 75th since the start of the 2009-10 season. Daemen is unbeaten in 45-straight games when reaching 90 points. Their last loss when scoring in the 90's came January 7, 2014 at Dominican College (98-93, overtime). 
  • Daemen improved to 9-5 in the all-time series with Molloy. Eight of the last 10 meetings between the two have been decided by eight points or less. Including tonight's game, their last four meetings at Lumsden Gymnasium have been decided by a combined 15 points. 
  • Molloy is coming off the best season in program history. The Lions went 21-10, captured their first ECC Tournament championship and made their first NCAA Tournament berth last season.
  • The last time Daemen made at least 30 free throws in a game was exactly four years ago. Daemen made 42 of their 51 free throw attempts in a 107-96 win over Queens College on Jan. 24, 2016. 
  • Sischo has now recorded three-straight double-doubles. Tonight's was the 40th of his career, the most for a Daemen player since Gerald Beverly had 46 from 2011-15.
  • Redband has now made at least one three-pointer in 51 of the last 55 games, and tonight's output marked the 18th game of his career with at least five trifectas. He now has 278 three-pointers in his career, one shy of David Skolen for second place on Daemen's all-time three-point field goal list. He stands 10 back of record-holder Brian Montanaro.
  • Redband leads the ECC with 62 three-pointers this season, and tonight he joined Montanaro as the only players in team history with 60 three-point field goals in four-straight seasons. 
  • Tonight's output marked Redband's fourth 20-point game of the season, and the 11th of his career. 
  • Sarkis recorded two assists tonight, including the 300th of his career. He becomes just the eighth player in program history to reach the milestone.
  • Sarkis reached 20 points for the first time since Feb. 25, 2018 (24 points vs. New York Tech). 

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen closes its brief two-game homestand by hosting New York Tech on Sunday (Jan. 26) for a 3 p.m. tip-off. The Bears were 68-66 winners tonight in Rochester against Roberts Wesleyan College. 
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