JERRY MORDI INTERVIEW

Flushing, N.Y. - Every team has a program-defining win and the Queens College Knights earned the most important victory in Coach Jacobs' tenure at the school with a 93-83 upset over the East Coast Conference's top team, Daemen, in a game played in Fitzgerald Gym on Saturday.  Jeremiah Mordi scored a game-high 33 points.

The Knights came out shooting the ball well, jumping out to a 13-2 lead.  Diego Maldonado hit a pair of threes, Mordi added another one.  Kyheim Chaplin scored the other four points.  Daemen answered back and got within three points before Queens went on another run.

An 18-7 run put QC ahead, 34-20 with 6:43 left as Chaplin accounted for 10 of the 18 points. Shaquille Thomas and Mordi each had a three and Travis Whitfield also added a basket.  The Knights led at the half, 44-35.

The Knights' lead reached 15 points with a Maldonado trifecta early in the second half.  Maldonado grabbed a steal and dunked the ball down the other way to put Queens up by 19. Another three-pointer by Maldonado with 13:13 remaining gave QC a 25-point advantage, its largest of the game.  The Wildcats got as close as seven, but Queens held on for a 93-83 win.

Mordi finished with eight assists and six rebounds to go with his 33 points.  Paul Little had a dozen points on 5-of-6 shooting.  Maldonado finished with 17 and made 5-9 three-pointers.  Finally, Chaplin scored 21 points and finally missed a foul shot after making his previous 29 in a row.

The Knights shot 55.9% from the field and 48.4% from behind the three-point line.  They also scored 25 points off of 17 Daemen turnovers.

The Queens College men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, February 4, when they face St. Thomas Aquinas in Sparkill, New York.