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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
77
St. Thomas Aquinas STACMBB 19-4, 8-2 ECC
81
Winner Daemen DAEMEN 20-6, 9-3 ECC
St. Thomas Aquinas STACMBB
19-4, 8-2 ECC
77
Final
81
Daemen DAEMEN
20-6, 9-3 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
St. Thomas Aquinas STACMBB 31 46 77
Daemen DAEMEN 47 34 81

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

Wildcats Grab Signature Win Over #12 STAC

Sarkis Passes 1,000 Points As Daemen Holds Off Second-Half Rally For 20th Win Of Season

AMHERST, N.Y. - The NCAA Division II men's basketball pundits have been asking for a signature win in the second half of the season from Daemen College, and tonight they got their wish. The Wildcats held off a furious second-half rally to outlast nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College 81-77 in an East Coast Conference contest played before a packed house at Lumsden Gymnasium. The game featured two of the top teams in the East Region and was broadcast across Division II social media platforms as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase.

Daemen led by as much as 20 points in the second half, but saw the visiting Spartans come back to take a one-point lead with under 90 seconds to play. The Wildcats closed the game with a decisive 6-1 spurt to secure a split of their season series with the Spartans. 

With the win, Daemen improved to 20-6 overall and 9-3 in ECC play, pulling them within a half game of STAC for second place in the conference standings. The Spartans, ranked in the top-15 of both Division II national polls (National Association of Basketball Coaches [NABC] No. 12; Division II Sports Information Directors of America [D2SIDA] No. 15). fell to 19-4 overall and 9-2 in ECC games. It also marked STAC's first loss in true road games this season, snapping their 11-game winning streak in such contests. 

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • All five starters reached double figures for Daemen as they combined for 76 of the team's 81 points. Perhaps no player had a bigger impact for the Wildcats than redshirt senior wing Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) who flirted with a rare triple-double, finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds and a season-high eight assists. It marked his first double-double of the season.
  • Senior guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) led Daemen in the scoring column, canning a trio of three-pointers while totaling 20 points. It marked Harris' fourth 20-point outing of the season, and his first since Jan. 4 at Stonehill College. 
  • Redshirt junior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) shot 9-for-11 from the field and finished with 19 points and eight boards.
  • Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) and Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) also reached double figures for the Wildcats. Sarkis matched his season-high with four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, including the 1,000th of his career. Redband, who earlier this month became Daemen's all-time leader in three-pointers, added three more triples to his total and finished with 11 points. 
  • Osbel Caraballo paced a quartet of double-figure scorers for the Spartans, notching a game-high 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting. 
  • Demetre Roberts and Grant Singleton (4-for-7 three-pointers) split 32 points for STAC, and Sekou Cisse (7-for-11 field goals) added 14 points and eight boards.

HALF-BY-HALF SUMMARY
First Half (Daemen 47, STAC 31) - After the teams split the first 22 points of the contest, Sarkis drilled a three-pointer to ignite a 14-2 run for the hosts. The Daemen lead reached 16 points (34-18) when Harris made three-straight free throws after being fouled while shooting from behind the arc. The Wildcats maintained a double-figure advantage for the rest of the period, getting a three-pointer from Redband at the 1:20 mark to send them into halftime with a 16-point advantage. 

Second Half (STAC 46, Daemen 34) - A 9-0 spurt by the Wildcats increased their lead to 58-38 with less than five minutes gone in the period. It remained a double-figure spread until STAC embarked on a 12-3 run to pull within 68-62 on a layup by Jamar Sudan with 6:45 to play. Roberts accounted for 10-straight points in the Spartan run. Daemen answered with a trifecta by Sarkis, but that only momentarily quelled the guests. STAC rattled off nine-straight points ith Cisse's transition dunk evening the score at 71-71 with just under three minutes remaining. Daemen came back with consecutive transition baskets from Wallace and Sischo, but the four-point lead (75-71) was short-lived as Caraballo scored five-straight points to give STAC their first lead (76-75) since it was 9-8. Harris was fouled on Daemen's next possession and he converted a pair of freebies with 65 seconds left to put Daemen back ahead. Daemen forced an empty STAC possession and ran down with another transition bucket for Wallace to provide some breathing room at 79-76. After Caraballo split a pair of free throws to pull the Spartans back within two points, Harris essentially iced the game for Daemen with two more free throws at the 22-second mark. The Spartans came up empty on their next possession to end any threat. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Daemen shot 56.9 percent from the field (29-for-51) and 40 percent from three-point range (12-for-30). Daemen, which entered the game leading the ECC in three-pointers made per game and three-point shooting percentage, made 10+ three-pointers for the sixth-straight game. The Wildcats were incredible from inside the arc as well, finishing 17-for-21 (80.6%) on two-point field goals in the game.
  • STAC shot a respectable 30-for-66 from the field (45.5%), but couldn't match Daemen from downtown, finishing 8-for-21 (38.1%). 
  • Turnovers plagued Daemen as the committed 21 in the game and 13 in the second half. But STAC, which committed 13 total turnovers, held just a 21-19 lead in points off miscues.

GAME NOTES
  • The win marked Daemen's second this season against a nationally-ranked opponent. The Wildcats previously knocked off No. 4 (NABC)/No. 4 (D2SIDA) West Liberty University 98-81 on Nov. 16.
  • The game featured two of the top programs within the East Coast Conference and the Division II East Region. Since the start of the 2014-15 season, STAC's 146 wins rank first among all Division II teams in New York State, while Daemen's 125 rank second.
  • Daemen is now 12-1 at home this season. The Wildcats have won 35 of their last 38 home games, and are 109-15 in home games since the start of the 2011-12 season. 
  • STAC had won the teams' previous meeting 87-80 in Sparkill, N.Y. on Dec. 15. Daemen has won the last two meetings at Lumsden Gymnasium, including an 82-79 overtime victory last season. The Spartans hold a 15-6 edge in the all-time series that dates back to both program's days as members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
  • Sarkis entered today's game two points shy of 1,000 for his career. His milestone bucket came on a three-pointer at the 14:46 mark of the opening half. Sarkis, who made the 100th start of his career tonight, is the 26th member of Daemen's 1,000 point club, and just the fifth to have also totaled at least 300 assists. In 106 career games, Sarkis has recorded 1,010 points (26th all-time), 317 assists (seventh all-time) and 187 three-point field goals (sixth all-time).
  • Harris is closing in on the 1,000-point milestone as well. Tonight's effort gives him 926 points in 92 career games. 
  • Wallace now leads Daemen with 84 assists this season. He's averaging 5.1 assists over the last eight games. Daemen is 13-2 this season when he records at least three assists. 
  • Redband's assault from three-point range continued. He's shooting 55.4 percent from downtown (36-for-65) over the last eight games. He's made at least one three-pointer in 56 of the last 60 games, and leads the ECC with 87 three-point field goals this season. Redband has totaled 303 three-pointers in his career, just three shy of moving into third place in ECC history.  
  • Daemen has now won at least 20 games in seven of the last nine seasons. The Wildcats have posted at least 19 wins in every season since 2011-12. 

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen's three-game homestand continues Sunday (Feb. 16) when they play host to Mercy College. The Mavericks (5-17, 3-9 ECC) are coming off a 78-75 loss to Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester tonight. 
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