AMHERST, N.Y. -- The #15 Daemen University men's basketball team dropped their third straight game of the season in a wild 94-83 loss to #3 Gannon University on Saturday in the final match up of the East Region Challenge. The Wildcats were led by the duo of
Jaiden Harrison (Buffalo, N.Y.) and
Nakyhi Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) who combined for 37 points in the loss. Daemen made 13 triples, but committed 26 turnovers and were outscored 38-10 in points off turnovers.
The Wildcats moved in front early behind their perimeter shooting, with Harris,
Trevor Barrett (Cary, N.C.),
Charlie Croff (Lockport, N.Y.) and Harrison all hitting from 3-point range before Croff's second three made it 26-9 at 9:24. Gannon answered with a 9-0 stretch to cut the score to 26-18, but the Wildcats pushed back to 34-22 on an inside basket from
Pat Rouse (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) and two
Xavier Clark (Youngstown, Ohio) free throws. Gannon closed the gap with a late surge to move ahead 38-34 before
Jaymeir Goosby (Buffalo, N.Y.) hit a 3-pointer at :31. Barrett made a free throw at :00 to tie it at 38, but Gannon made two free throws at the same timestamp to send the Golden Knights into halftime ahead 40-38.
Gannon opened the second half with seven straight points to put the score at 47-38 at 19:08. Barrett and Harrison hit three's during the Wildcats' early push, but Gannon kept adding baskets off steals and second chances, moving the score to 72-50 at 11:32. The Wildcats got points from Rouse, Harris and Croff during a stretch that brought the score to 87-72 at 4:11, but Gannon scored layups at 3:51 and 3:23 to pull ahead 91-72. The Wildcats closed with 3-pointers by Goosby, Harris and Harrison, with Harrison's shot at :36 setting the final score in Gannon's 94-83 win.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Harrison led the Wildcats for the first time in his career, totaling 19 points after shooting 67-percent from the field (6-of-9) with five of his buckets coming beyond the arc. The junior guard added a team-high four assists, three rebounds and one block to his stat line.
- Harris tallied 18 points going 50-percent (6-of-12) from the field, chipping in three steals, three rebounds, two assists and one block. Harris was named to the All Tournament Team for his performance this weekend.
- Off the bench, Croff totaled 12 points, shooting 67-percent (4-of-6) from the field and 50-percent (2-of-4) beyond the arc, adding four rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist.
- Goosby tallied 12 points, a team-high nine rebounds and one steal. The sophomore guard was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the loss.
- Rouse finished with nine points, five rebounds -- two offensive boards -- and two blocks.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to Fairmont, W.Va. to play at Fairmont State on Wednesday at 5:30 PM.
