Sophomore guard Darius Garvin returns after averaging 7.8 points per game last season

Men's Basketball 10/26/2016 3:06:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Men's Basketball Picked Fifth In ECC Preseason Poll

2016-17 ECC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
Rank	School	Pts.	2015-16 Record
1	St. Thomas Aquinas (9)	99	27-5, 18-2 ECC
2	LIU Post (1)	76	18-12, 12-8 ECC
3	Bridgeport	75	15-14, 12-8 ECC
4	District of Columbia	70	15-14, 13-7 ECC
5	DAEMEN	69	19-10, 14-6 ECC
6	Mercy	42	13-15, 9-11 ECC
T-7	Molloy	37	9-19, 7-13 ECC
T-7	Queens	37	11-14, 9-11 ECC
9	NYIT	27	3-24, 2-18 ECC
10	Roberts Wesleyan	18	8-18, 5-15 ECC
( ) - first place votes

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team has been picked to finish fifth in the East Coast Conference this season according to the ECC preseason poll which was released today from conference headquarters in Central Islip, N.Y. following a vote of the league's 10 head coaches.

Just seven points separates second-place Long Island University Post (76 points) from fifth-place Daemen (69 points) in the poll. The Wildcats finished second in the final regular season standings last year, and advanced to the East Coast Conference Tournament championship game in the program's first-ever postseason berth at the NCAA Division II level. Daemen finished the year at 19-10 overall. The Wildcats' 61 wins since the start of the 2013-14 season rank second among all ECC teams, while their league win total (44) in that span is tied for the most with St. Thomas Aquinas College.

Veteran bench boss Mike MacDonald returns for his third season roaming the Daemen sidelines, and his 20th overall as a collegiate head coach. He opens the season just four wins shy of 300 for his career which includes time spent at Division I Canisius College and Division III Medaille College. Since taking the reins here, MacDonald has posted a 40-20 mark. For the second straight year, he'll be dealing with the graduation of a generational player. Last year at this time, MacDonald and his staff were learning about life without monster power forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates-Chili), the two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Year. This year, the Wildcats move on without 6-foot-5 guard/forward Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College), the league's leading scorer (21.9 ppg) and a first-team All-ECC selection.

Headlining a group of 12 returning players is second-team All-ECC honoree Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi). The 6-foot-7 redshirt-senior forward posted averages of 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while leading the team in three-point field goals (47) last season.

Also back are a pair of guards who suffered season-ending injuries last season. Redshirt-senior guard Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) was limited to just four games in 2015-16. He's made 32 consecutive starts in games which he's played, dating back to the 2014-15 season, averaging 10.7 points per game and shooting 37-percent from three-point range in those outings. Junior Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y./Thomasville Prep) was forced out of the lineup after 16 games last season. He was averaging a career-best 9.9 points per game before the injury.

St. Thomas Aquinas (99 points), the defending ECC regular season and tournament champions, top the poll as the near unanimous pick to repeat. With 12 returning players coming back from last season's magical 27-5 team, the Spartans picked up nine of the 10 first-place votes in the poll. The Spartan returners, who accounted for 95-percent of the team's scoring last season, are led by redshirt-junior guard/forward Justin Reyes (Haverhill, Mass.) who was announced today as the ECC Preseason Player of the Year. Reyes, who earned ECC Rookie of the Year honors in 2014-15, was the league's Player of the Year last season after averaging 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while posting 19 double-doubles - the second most of any Division II player in the country. The Spartans open the year ranked No. 13 in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25 poll.

Behind second-place LIU Post is the University of Bridgeport (75 points) and the University of the District of Columbia (70 points). All three were ECC Tournament qualifiers last season. LIU Post ended Bridgeport's run of three straight league championships by winning the teams' first postseason meeting since 2012, while UDC made their first postseason appearance since 2012. The Pioneers, who garnered the lone remaining first-place vote, bring back their top two scorers in senior guard Jared Hall (South Orange, N.J.) and senior forward Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.), both of whom were all-conference selections. The Purple Knights feature an almost entirely new roster after losing players responsible for 91-percent of their scoring. UDC brings back three double-figure scorers, including senior guard Kasim Chandler (Newark, N.J.) who ranked fourth in the league (19.1 ppg).

Mercy College (42 points) came in a distant sixth place in the poll, rounding out the teams picked to earn ECC Tournament berths. Behind second-year head coach Dr. Jody King, the Mavericks ended a 15-year postseason drought in 2015-16, and bounced third-seeded UDC before giving Daemen all they could handle in a 103-102 overtime thriller in the semifinal round.

Queens College (37 points), which lost out on a conference tourney bid in a tie-breaker with Mercy last year, is tied for seventh in the preseason poll with Molloy College (37 points). N.Y. Institute of Technology (27 points) and Roberts Wesleyan College (18 points) round out the poll.

Daemen opens its 2016-17 season with a pair of exhibition contests against Division I opponents next week. MacDonald's squad will tune up for the regular season against Siena College of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Wednesday, Nov. 2), and two-time defending Mid-American Conference champion University at Buffalo (Friday, Nov. 4). The regular season officially tips off on November 11 with Daemen hosting Caldwell University on the opening day of the ECC-CACC Challenge presented by Western N.Y. Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC. League play gets underway with Daemen visiting LIU Post on November 30.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen men's basketball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenMBB on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Torrence Dyck: G/F; 6' 5"; Senior

#3 Supreme Hannah: G; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

#21 Arif Mehmetaj: F; 6' 7"; Redshirt Senior

#24 Nick Petrucelli: G; 6' 3"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#4 Torrence Dyck
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G/F

#3 Supreme Hannah
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#21 Arif Mehmetaj
: 6' 7"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#24 Nick Petrucelli
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G