Washington, D.C. - They say that basketball in the month of March is all about surviving and advancing, and that's exactly what transpired tonight for second-seeded Daemen College which outlasted sixth-seeded Mercy College, 103-102 in an overtime thriller at the University of the District of Columbia Sports Complex in the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament semifinals. In a game that featured 10 lead changes, freshman guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) scored a driving lay-in with 35 seconds left in the extra session to put Daemen ahead, and the Wildcats survived three Mercy attempts in the waning seconds to advance.
The victory tonight, Daemen's first-ever conference tournament win at the NCAA Division II level, pushes the Wildcats (19-9 overall) into a showdown with top-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas College (25-4 overall) tomorrow afternoon (2:30 p.m.) in the ECC title game with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Championships on the line. The Spartans, winners of 19-straight ballgames and ranked sixth in the latest East Region poll, advanced by defeating fourth-seeded Long Island University Post 85-58 in tonight's first semifinal game.
Senior guard/forward Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) got hot early and battled foul trouble late, posting his fourth-straight double-double (seventh of the season) with team-highs of 23 points and 10 boards tonight. Dyck scored 14 first-half points, including nine in the opening four minutes of the game, ultimately connecting on 7-of-14 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range.
With Dyck and the Wildcats' second-leading scorer, Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi), hampered with foul trouble in the second half, Daemen got big minutes from its trio of freshmen starters - Sarkis, Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) - as well as from reserve forward Ryan Grandits (Kenmore, N.Y./Medaille College). Hamilton hit 7-of-9 field goal attempts, including a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance, totaling 18 points while grabbing five rebounds. Grandits shot 6-of-9 from the field, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the pivotal second half, while adding three assists and two blocks. Grandits has now scored in double figures in six of the last seven games, averaging 11.9 points per game in that span. Garvin hit 5-of-7 field goal attempts, including a pair of three-pointers as part of his career-high 15 points, and Sarkis' signature bucket in the final minute of overtime gave him 13 points to go with three assists.
Mercy, which posted its first-ever postseason victory on the same floor just this past Wednesday by knocking off third-seeded UDC (72-71), got a tremendous effort from senior guard/forward Tyseem Lyles (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who registered a game-high 28 points along with nine rebounds. Fellow senior Jason Quijada (Monsey, N.Y.) came off the bench to score 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Big men William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and Joshua Thompson (Chester, Pa.) recorded 14 points apiece with Thompson's production coming off the pine. Starter K.J. Rose (Binghamton, N.Y.) also reached double figures with 13 points for the Mavericks who saw their season come to an end with a 13-15 overall record. Mercy was making its first postseason appearance since the 2000-01 season and the Mavericks' 13 wins this season are the program's most since the 1992-93 campaign.
Daemen rode the offensive production of Dyck and hot perimeter shooting to open up a 13-point lead (24-11) just six-and-a-half minutes into the game. The Wildcats connected on six of their first eight three-point attempts, getting two long distance makes apiece from Dyck, Garvin and Hamilton.
Mercy would get back into contention by scoring 20 of the next 30 points, capped by a Lyles three-pointer at the 7:18 mark to draw within one possession (34-31). But, Daemen responded with an 8-1 spurt to re-establish a double-figure gap (42-32) following Hamilton's layup at the 4:08 mark. The pendulum then swung Mercy's way as the Mavericks closed on an 11-1 run to end the period with the score knotted at 43-43. All 11 Mercy points came in the final 1:59 of the half, nine of which came from Rose, including two free throws with eight ticks left which momentarily gave the Mavericks its first lead of the night (43-42) before Grandits split a pair at the other end to forge the halftime tie.
The Mavericks jumped in front again at 50-48 following another Lyles three-pointer, this one at the 17:10 mark of the second half, and they would go on to lead for nearly seven minutes. Dyck's layup at the 11:41 mark - his first field goal since the 9:45 mark of the first half - jump-started a quick 6-0 spurt that turned a four-point deficit (63-59) into a two-point lead (65-63). Free throws by Grandits pulled the Wildcats even and two more freebies by Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) put them back ahead with 10:31 to play.
Four lead changes would occur over the next three-plus minutes, the last of which saw Daemen leading 75-73 following two Grandits free throws at the 6:55 mark. The Wildcats held the lead, but never by more than four points, until Lyles evened things up at 79-all with a three-pointer at the 4:47 mark. Daemen answered with five points by Sarkis sandwiched around a Quijada layup to lead 84-81.
Mercy pulled within one (85-84) when Robinson split a pair at the line (2:14 remaining), but Grandits scored on the other end to push the lead back to three. Robinson scored on the ensuing Mavericks' possession to bring them back within a single point (87-86) with 1:22 to play.
Garvin then drove the length of the floor and hit a runner, and following a missed jumper by Rose, Daemen broke out and Grandits found Dyck for a huge alley-oop slam which put Daemen ahead 91-86 with 41 seconds left.
But, Mercy got two Robinson free throws and then forced a Daemen turnover which resulted in a made jumper by Lyles to make the score 91-90 in Daemen's favor with 17 seconds left. Garvin was fouled and went to the line where he made 1-of-2, before Mercy's Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C.) drove the length of the floor and scored with eight seconds left to pull even at 92-apiece. Following a timeout, Dyck's runner was off the mark, and following an official review, Garvin's tip-in was ruled to have occurred after the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Daemen took control with a seven unanswered points, capped by Mehmetaj's old-fashioned three-point play to lead 99-92 with 2:57 left. That's when Mercy scored a touchdown - literally a six-point possession - to once again pull back within a point (99-98). Quijada made 1-of-3 free throws after being fouled behind the arc. His last miss was collected by Thompson who scored underneath in addition to drawing a foul. He missed his free throw attempts, but Mercy again collected the carom and Lyles was awarded three more free throws - which he converted - when Dyck lost his footing and tripped into his legs while shooting a three-pointer. Compounding matters for Daemen was that it was Dyck's fifth foul, marking just the second time in his Daemen career that he's fouled out.
Garvin answered with another strong take to the basket, putting Daemen over the century mark for the sixth time this season to lead 101-98. Mercy would score the next four points getting a layup from Rose (1:16 mark) and another by Jennings, the latter putting the underdogs ahead by one (102-101) with 48 seconds on the clock.
That set the stage for Sarkis' heroics, scoring after a timeout called by head coach Mike MacDonald. Lyles missed a runner with 13 ticks left, but the ball was knocked out of bounds by Daemen giving the Mavericks another chance. Jennings' three-pointer was off the mark and Lyles' fade away attempt at the buzzer after corralling another offensive board was just short, sending the Daemen players into a frenzy on the floor.
So, Daemen and Saint Thomas Aquinas will meet for the third time this season for all the marbles tomorrow afternoon. STAC swept the regular season series, and the Spartans will be making their third-straight appearance in the ECC title game, while still looking for their first conference championship. Since Daemen joined the ECC for the 2013-14 season, Daemen and STAC have both posted 62 victories, tied for the most among all ECC teams in the last three seasons.
Release provided by the Daemen Sports Information Department.
