AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College men's basketball player Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) has been named the East Coast Conference Player of the Week for games played November 9-15.  The announcement was made late yesterday from the conference headquarters in Central Islip, N.Y. via the league's weekly men's basketball report.

Mehmetaj, a 6-foot-7 redshirt-junior forward, was named to the all-tournament team at the ECC-CACC Challenge after helping Daemen to a split of its first two regular season games of the season last week.  The four-team event, held at DC's Lumsden Gymnasium, featured Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan College of the ECC in pre-determined matchups against Wilmington University (Del.) and Holy Family University of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

In Friday's regular-season opening 109-87 win versus Wilmington, Mehmetaj knocked down 7-of-13 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, en route to 20 points in the ballgame, while adding team-highs of seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.  It was the first 20-point game of his Daemen career.

On Saturday against Holy Family, Mehmetaj erupted for career-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds, knocking down 9-of-16 field goal attempts, while adding three assists and a pair of blocks.  Daemen suffered defeat in the game, falling by three (89-86) in a great early season matchup for the Wildcats against HFU, the favorite to win the CACC's South Division and the No. 5 ranked team in the preseason D2SIDA East Region media poll.

The games last week marked Mehmetaj's official return to the Daemen lineup after having his 2014-15 season cut short due to injury.  Mehmetaj started the first three games last year, averaging 8.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game before being forced from the lineup.

Mehmetaj and his teammates are idle this week, but the Wildcats return to action on Tuesday, November 24 when they welcome Mercyhurst University to Lumsden Gymnasium for 7 p.m. tip-off.