ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's basketball team scored 22 of the first 24 points and cruised to an 86-61 victory against Roberts Wesleyan Saturday evening in the consolation game of the 28th annual Gary Miller Classic hosted at the Hammermill Center.
The convincing victory helped erase memories of a tough 67-65 loss to eventual tournament champion Daemen during Friday's semifinals. The Wildcats used 24 points off the bench from tournament Most Outstanding Player Casey Sheehan to get past three-time champion Pitt-Johnstown 72-65 in Saturday's finals.

One night after scoring 25 points in the first half, Gannon exploded for 22 points in the opening five minutes and two seconds. Adam Blazek (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) hit a jumper 33 seconds into the contest and the race was on. The true freshman scored Gannon's first eight points, following his opening shot with a pair of three-pointers. And he wasn't done. Oscar Macias (Cicero, Ill./Morton) hit two free throws to push the lead to 10-2, before Blazek drilled two more triples for a 16-2 advantage.

The opening blitz continued with a Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) lay-up and back-to-back buckets by Macias. His lay-up at the 14:58 mark capped the opening 22-2 run.

In all, Gannon went 8-of-12 from the field with three offensive rebounds and four three-pointers during the run. Defensively, the Golden Knights forced Roberts Wesleyan to miss 10 consecutive shots. After converting a lay-up on their opening possession, the Raiders did not record another field goal until there was 13:53 left in the half.

Once Roberts Wesleyan stopped the bleeding, it rolled off eight straight points to pull within 22-10. The lead dwindled to 24-15, before Gannon produced another sizeable run.

Gannon responded with a 19-2 surge over the next 6:22 to assume a commanding 43-17 lead with 2:40 left in the first half. It was the defensive unit that ignited the run, holding Roberts Wesleyan to 1-of-8 shooting with six turnovers. Five different Golden Knights scored during that time span, including six points from Battle. The led eventually stood at 45-26 as the first-half buzzer sounded.

Roberts Wesleyan cut the deficit down to 12 points one last time. Back-to-back three-pointers from William Kemp-Harris and Dylan Gratch pulled the Raiders within 69-57 at the 7:21 mark.

However, Gannon answered with 11 consecutive points to put the game away. Steve Piotrowicz (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) hit four free throws, before Tanner Furno (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) netted five straight points to cap the run. His free throw with 3:28 remaining gave the Golden Knights an 80-57 edge. Moments later, Gannon took home the third-place trophy with a 25-point victory.

Blazek led all scorers with 23 points, hitting 8-of-11 overall shots and 5-of-6 three-pointers. Blanton narrowly missed his second consecutive double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Battle and Macias rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Gannon shot 46.9 percent (30-64) from the field, 50 percent (7-14) from three-point range and 86.4 percent (19-22) from the free throw line. The Golden Knights have shot 50 percent or better from three-point range during three of their first four games.

Kemp-Harris led two Roberts Wesleyan players in double digits with 22 points, hitting 7-of-11 shots off the bench. Mike Stone chipped in 20 points and five steals.

Roberts Wesleyan shot 37.1 percent (23-62) from the floor, 40 percent (6-15) from behind the arc and 52.9 percent (9-17) from the charity stripe.

In Saturday's championship game, Daemen shot 59.3 percent (16-27) en route to a 38-33 halftime lead. The decisive run came early in the second half. Leading 42-39, the Wildcats went on a 13-3 blitz to pull ahead 55-42 with 9:32 remaining.

Pitt-Johnstown rallied late, getting within two points after a 13-4 run in the final five minutes. Nick Novak's three-pointer with 40 seconds left cut the deficit to 67-65. However, it would eventually be the Mountain Cats' final points as Daemen iced its first-ever Gary Miller Classic title with three free throws and a lay-up as time expired.

Sheehan exploded off the bench for 24 points, drilling 9-of-11 shots from the field. The performance included 6-of-7 dead-eye shooting from three-point range. Jordan Miller led Pitt-Johnstown with 19 points.

As a result of his championship performance, Sheehan took home Gary Miller Classic Most Outstanding Player honors. Fellow teammate Jim Regan joined him on the all-tournament team with 25 points and 12 rebounds in two games.

Blanton represented Gannon on the all-tournament team with 35 points and 20 rebounds in two nights, missing a second double-double Saturday night by one rebound. The all-tourney squad was rounded out with Patrick Grubbs of Pitt-Johnstown and Mike Stone of Roberts Wesleyan. Grubbs recorded 39 points and 13 rebounds. Stone had 45 points during the weekend.

Gannon evened its record at 2-2 with Saturday's victory while Roberts Wesleyan dropped to 2-5. The Golden Knights return to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action Saturday, December 3 at Millersville. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Daemen improved to 5-3. Pitt-Johnstown dropped to 3-3 while advancing to its sixth Gary Miller Classic championship game in seven appearances.