Daemen gained a split of their season-opening tournament in Missouri. Here’s how it went down:
DAEMEN 68 MISSOURI WESTERN 64
Jeff Redband totaled 12 of his 15 points in the first half, but it was his three clutch free throws in the final 13 seconds that secured #22 Daemen’s come-from-behind victory over Missouri Western State in the final day of the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in St. Joseph’s, Mo. Redband – who made four of six shots from beyond the arc, dished out four assists and came up with a key steal in crunch time – capped a 15-6 flourish over the final 5:29 that gave the Wildcats the weekend split, sinking two tosses with 13 seconds to play that made it a two-possession game at 67-63. Then, after Tyree Griffin split a pair to bring the Griffons within a possession at the five-second mark, Redband nailed another foul shot one second later to close out the scoring. Missouri Western – which was playing just 10 minutes from its campus – led most of the night, and by as much as 34-24 before Daemen closed out the opening period on an 8-0 run to creep within 34-32 by the break. Freshman guard Keith Slack - in his first career start – scored all eight, including a buzzer-beating 3-point bank shot. The gap grew to nine (46-37) just over four minutes into the second half and was still five (58-53) before the Wildcats rallied, seizing the lead for keeps (63-62) on a Kyle Harris lay-up with 1:41 left. Harris, Slack and Andrew Sischo (12 rebounds) each added 11 points for the winners, who outshot their opponents 52%-33% in the second half and shot better from long distance (10-23 to 6-28) on the night. Tyler Carroll paced the Griffons with 22 points, 17 of which came before intermission. The game was marred by 42 turnovers (23 by DC), as opposed to just 16 assists.