AMHERST, N.Y. (Nov. 11, 2022) - Georgian Court Men's Basketball got their season underway and nearly came up with a huge win against East Region power Daemen. Trailing by 14 at the break, Georgian Court made some key halftime adjustments and came all the way back to take the lead in the second half, but couldn't hang on as Daemen ended up prevailing with a 65-60 win.

How it Happened
• Each team shot the ball better than 40% for the game. Daemen was 24-55 overall, 43.6% while GCU hit 22-52, 42.3%. The Lions shot 46.2% in the second-half and made three of their four three-pointers.
• Daemen connected on six total from long range while the Lions hit on four. 
• Georgian Court shot 80% at the free throw line, going 12-15 while Daemen was just 11-19, including missing a bunch late to keep GCU alive.
• Daemen held an advantage on the glass, 35-30, and that difference came entirely from offensive boards. The two teams each grabbed 24 defensive rebounds, but Daemen picked up 11 offensive rebounds to Georgian Court's six.
• The Lions committed 15 turnovers, however 10 of those came in the first half. The Wildcats coughed it up 14 times. 
• Georgian Court was able to alter six Daemen shots while the Wildcats blocked just one GCU field goal attempt.
• Georgian Court got the scoring started as Clint Wright, Jr. hit a floater on the first possession of the game. That was the last time GCU led until the second half with Daemen taking over with an 8-4 advantage.
• For much of the first half, the Lions kept it close. They trailed by just one, 12-11, after Hassan Jackson hit a three with 11:43 left to play, despite committing five turnovers in the first eight minutes.
• From there though, Daemen went on an 11-0 run over a 3:49 stretch as they started to pull away. Georgian Court brought the lead back down to single digits, 25-18, as Wright, Jr. and Jalen Bates connected on consecutive field goals.
• Over the final 4:34 though, the Wildcats outscored GCU 11-4, doubling their lead from seven to 14. Daemen grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw with under 10 seconds left in the half and Joey Atkins hit from the left elbow as time expired to put the Wildcats up 36-22 at the break.
• Georgian Court came out looking like a different team in the second half. They started the half on a 7-2 run over the first 4:10 to get back into single digits 38-29.
• Jelani Jackson made it 42-36 with a field goal and Bates with a steal and fast-break layup made it a 43-40 game and forced a Daemen timeout with 11:58 remaining.
• Jamaal Waters secured an offensive rebound and putback to get to within one, and with 9:50 left to play, Bates gave GCU their first lead, 44-43, since 2-0 with a jumper.
• The two teams traded the lead a couple of times. Down one again, Bates put GCU back in front and a three-point play courtesy of Hassan Jackson gave the Lions their largest lead, 49-45 at the 8:50 mark.
• Georgian Court went a little cold after that and Daemen's Andrew Mason hit back-to-back three's, putting the Wildcats back on top 53-51.
• Tied at 55 with under five minutes left to play, the Wildcats scored four straight to take a 59-55 lead and never trailed again. Wright, Jr. connected on a three to get within one, but was immediately answered by Nick MacDonald putting Daemen back up four.
• Georgian Court was able to hang around thanks to Daemen's inability to make free throws. In the final two minutes, Daemen had a 1-5 stretch at the line. That gave GCU the ball down just three in the closing seconds. The Lions got off a pair of three-pointers, but neither went down. Daemen finally secured the win two free throws with four seconds left to play to hang on for a 65-60 win.

It Was Over When...
• The Wildcats overcame their poor free throw shooting, hitting two in the closing seconds to go up five, 65-60, after the Lions had a chance to tie. It looked like it might be over much sooner, but credit the Lions who came all the way back from down 14 at the half to take the lead, leading by as much as four with 7:24 left to play.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Clint Wright, Jr. led the Lions scoring 11 points on 3-9 shooting and was 4-5 at the free throw line. He also grabbed two rebounds and added two assists.
• Jamaal Waters nearly had a double-double scoring eight and pulled down a game-high 12 boards. Waters blocked three shots as well.
• Jalen Bates was in double-figures scoring 10 points on 5-8 shooting with two steals.
• Cameron Edmonds added seven points and four rebounds.
• Hassan Jackson and Jelani Jackson each scored six points. 
• Titus Beard dished out four assists while scoring two points with three rebounds.

For the Wildcats
• Nick MacDonald scored a game-high 16 points going 5-11 and 2-4 from three.
• Joey Atkins was 6-10 for 15 points and six rebounds.
• Ryan Salzberg finished with a team-high seven rebounds and four assists and added six points.
• Juston Johnson and Andrew Mason each added six points.

News and Notes
• There were lots of new faces for both teams. The Lions played five newcomers and three true-freshmen. They all saw plenty of minutes combining for 89 minutes and 34 points.
• Daemen played their first game without three-time All-American Andrew Sischo. 
• Shane Williams grabbed his 250th career rebound. 
• Only six times last season did GCU hold their opponent to 65 points or fewer which they did in their season opener this year. 
• Georgian Court is still searching for their first win to start a season. 

Up Next
• The Lions are back in action tomorrow morning. They play Roberts Wesleyan in a neutral site game at Daemen at 11 a.m.