Friday featured two East Coast Conference contests in Western New York, including a thriller in Buffalo:
DAEMEN 102 MOLLOY 98 (2 OT)
Andrew Sischo amassed 36 points (12-19 FG, 12-15 FT), 23 rebounds and three blocked shots – all personal bests – and Jay Sarkis delivered 15 of his 20 points in the two overtime periods as Daemen outlasted pesky Molloy at Lumsden Gym to move within a half-game of idle St. Thomas Aquinas for second place in the ECC pecking order. After a first half that saw neither team separated by more than four points until the visitors grabbed a 36-31 lead at the break, the Wildcats trailed 56-43 nearly six minutes into the second half and 65-57 with just over nine minutes to play before engineering a 14-2 run and surging in front 71-67 on a lay-up by Breon Harris (21 points, nine rebounds, four assists in 48 minutes) with 5:45 left. The Lions roared back with seven straight, reclaiming a 74-71 lead before the Cats tallied the next five. Justin Caldwell – who logged a personal-high 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench – knotted the count at 76-76 with two clutch free throws and neither team was able to muster a single point over the last 2:05 of regulation, with Mike Torre (17 points) missing a potential winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. Daemen – which also landed Jeff Redband in double figures with 10 points – constructed an 85-80 advantage with 34 ticks remaining in the first overtime, but Molloy closed out the period with an 8-3 flourish, bookended by Nick Corbett triples, the second one a well-defended attempt from the right wing with time expiring. The hosts never trailed in the second OT with Sarkis saving his best for last, knocking down a tiebreaking trifecta on a second offensive rebound with 37 seconds to go, making it a 99-96 affair. The redshirt sophomore playmaker then answered a pair of Corbett foul shots with two of his own at the 19-second mark. After Corbett missed a driving lay-up, Sarkis drained the dagger free throw in his 48th minute, with 13 seconds on the clock, to close out the scoring, giving the Wildcats their fourth straight win and 13th in 14 games. Corbett erupted for a career-high 33 points (14 in the bonus periods), six rebounds and four assists in 46 minutes of action for the Lions, while Curtis Jenkins posted the region’s second triple-double of the season, racking up 18 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists (along with six steals for good measure) in 48 minutes of court time. The near-upset proved costly for Molloy, which is now tied with idle Mercy, a game behind Queens, which now holds down the sixth and final playoff spot. In a game that featured 15 ties and 12 lead changes, the Wildcats were slightly outshot from the floor (43%-41%) and from beyond the arc (10-32 to 7-26) while turning it over more often (17-10) and getting outscored 16-2 on the break. They more than made up for those numbers at the foul line (29-33 compared to Molloy’s 14-16) and on the glass (55-40) to avoid the upset. The region’s last triple-double came from Merrimack’s JUVARIS HAYES, who turned the trick on January 3 vs. Southern Connecticut.
QUEENS 70 ROBERTS WESLEYAN
Just down the Thruway in Rochester, 12 of 13 players scored and Queens rode a 19-6 run over the last 4:21 to top Roberts Wesleyan, avenging a home loss last month and grabbing sole possession of sixth place. In a game distinguished by nine ties, 12 lead changes and nothing more than a four-point spread over the initial 20 minutes, the Knights bolted out of the halftime break with an 18-2 tear, expanding a 27-25 lead to 45-27 after a top-of-the-key three from Kevin Buron with 14:30 to play. The Redhawks responded with a 26-6 counter-run, edging in front 53-51 on freebies by Jean Toussaint (10 points, 10 rebounds) with 4:53 left. After an exchange of turnovers, Tyrone Hall drilled the go-ahead trey with 4:21 remaining to initiate that big run as Queens limited its hosts to just one field goal over the final 7:05 – a meaningless Isaiah Lewis lay-up with 13 seconds to go. Hall (six rebounds), Buron and Tyrese Crosdale led the balanced Knights attack with 10 points apiece (the latter two in reserve roles) as their team shot much better from the floor (42%-27%), from beyond the arc (8-24 to 2-15) and from the line (18-23 to 25-43) while dishing out 16 of the game’s 22 assists. Roberts – which was fronted by Brad Williams’ 14 points and 10 caroms off the bench – won the battle of the boards (44-39), leading to a 12-2 edge in second-chance scoring, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a fourth straight setback as the hosts fell a game out of fourth and are now just a game up on Queens for sixth. The game was marred by 56 fouls and 41 turnovers (23 by QC), both totals surpassing the number of baskets in the game (38).