Two East Coast Conference games in Western New York kicked off a jam-packed weekend of regional action, with the two teams tied for second place holding serve. Here’s the scoop:
DAEMEN 106 DOWLING 102
The formidable and flashy duo of Arif Mehmetaj (30 points, 13 rebounds) and Torrence Dyck (29, 10) went off inside Lumsden Gym, leading Daemen to its eighth straight win – and sixth in as many lifetime meetings with Dowling. Both players added four assists to their stat lines, and for Mehmetaj, it was a career-best scoring performance as the junior forward shot 10-15 overall and 6-8 from beyond the arc. There were 15 lead changes in a see-saw first half, the last one coming courtesy of a 13-2 run that flipped a 32-30 deficit into a 43-34 lead as the Wildcats shot 11-20 from 3-point range en route to a 50-41 halftime advantage. The final period featured some key runs, including a 16-5 Golden Lions surge that shaved a 67-52 deficit to 72-68 near the midway mark. But the final five minutes were a real roller coaster ride as a 14-3 flurry expanded the hosts’ 84-78 lead to 98-81 with 2:20 to play (Mehmetaj tallied 12 of the 14 during the uprising, including a 3-pointer and two “And-1”s) before the late-life Lions closed out the game with a 21-8 flourish, drawing as close as the four-point final before finally succumbing. Daemen – which also received solid games from ECC Freshman of the Week Jay Sarkis (15 points on 5-6 long-range shooting plus six assists) and Ryan Grandits (13 points, six boards off the bench) – shot 7-10 from the line in the closing minute to secure the spoils, reaching the century mark for the third straight time in the process. Evan Maxwell paced five in double digits for Dowling with 25 points (10-17 FG, 3-3 from downtown Buffalo) and six rebounds. He was followed by ECC Co-Player of the Week Chris Millender (16 points, seven rebounds), Myron Hickman (personal-best 16 points – all in the second half – on 7-8 shooting in just 12 bench minutes), Ali Mableton (15 in a reserve role) and Vincent Abbandola (10). The visitors shot better from the field (54%-49%), destroyed Daemen in the paint (68-34) and boasted 22-12 scoring edges both on the break and off turnovers. The Wildcats overcame those disparities with their long-distance prowess (15-32 to 8-28), harder work at the foul line (23-33 to 8-11) and a 46-31 upper hand in the rebounding department, contributing to an 18-6 windfall in second-chance scoring.
BRIDGEPORT 77 ROBERTS WESLEYAN 70
Just down the road in Rochester, Muhammed Ahmed led all scorers with 22 points (9-14 FG) and Bridgeport converted 8-9 at the foul line over the last 36 seconds to repel Roberts Wesleyan and remain tied with Daemen for second place heading into their Super Bowl Sunday showdown. The Purple Knights led most of the way, with the margin maxing out at 55-41 following an Ahmed bucket with 12:49 left. The Redhawks hung the next six points on the board and the lead bounced between six and 11 for the next 11 minutes before a driving dunk by Tyrel Dixon (six points, five assists) brought the home team within 69-65 at the 51-second mark. That’s when the P-Knights salted it away at the stripe, improving to 3-1 on their grueling five-game, eight-day road swing. Devon Elliott (3-4 from deep) and Jesse Jones (3-5 off the bench) each chipped in with 11 for Bridgeport, which won despite allowing more threes (11-29 to 7-19) and being outworked on the glass (38-33). The Knights managed to prevail thanks to twice as many free throws (18-23 to 9-14) and an 8-0 advantage on the fast break. Quinn Carey led a balanced attack for Roberts with 14 points in reserve duty and Zack Panebianco notched his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Marcus Gooding and Mike Stone each netted 10 in a losing cause.