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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mbb at edinboro 11.23.16
Today's win marked the 300th in the career of Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald
90
Winner Daemen DAEM 4-0, 0-0 ECC
79
Edinboro EDIN-M 2-3, 0-2 PSACW
Winner
Daemen DAEM
4-0, 0-0 ECC
90
Final
79
Edinboro EDIN-M
2-3, 0-2 PSACW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen DAEM 44 46 90
Edinboro EDIN-M 34 45 79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Wildcats Deliver MacDonald's 300th Career Victory

Mehmetaj & Redband Lead Three-Point Shooting Barrage In 90-79 Win At Edinboro

EDINBORO, Pa. - Redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) and redshirt-freshman forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) combined for 12 three-point field goals and 46 points to lead Daemen College to a 90-79 road win at Edinboro University today in non-conference men's basketball action at McComb Field House.  The win pushes Daemen to its first 4-0 start since the 2012-13 season, and it will go down in the record books as win number 300 in the career of Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald, now in his 20th season as a collegiate bench boss and his third in charge of the Wildcats.

Edinboro, a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, fell to 2-3 this season with the loss - their third straight, including two consecutive in which they surrendered at least 90 points.

Mehmetaj, Daemen's leading returning scorer and a 2015-16 second-team All-East Coast Conference selection, made his 2016-17 regular season debut today after missing the Wildcats' first three contests.  Showing little rust, Mehmetaj went 9-of-16 from the field and 6-of-8 from three-point range to total a team-high 26 points, 18 of which came in the second half, while adding a team-high seven rebounds.  It was Mehmetaj's 10th 20-point game in the last two seasons for the Wildcats.

Redband scored 15 of his career-high 20 points in the opening half, hitting 5-of-8 three-point attempts in the period.  The 6-foot-7 sharp-shooter ended up 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-10 from long distance, while also corralling five boards.  He's now scored in double figures in back-to-back games after totaling 15 points in Daemen's 74-64 win over St. Edward's University last Saturday afternoon.

Redshirt-senior guard Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) and redshirt-sophomore wing Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) also reached double figures in the scoring column for the Wildcats.  Hannah scored 13 points and added a game-high eight assists - his best distribution since dishing nine dimes in Daemen's 77-53 win over Rochester College (Mich.) in the finals of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division (USCAA) I National Championship tournament on March 7, 2015.  Hamilton, who came into today's game as the Wildcats leading scorer at 15.7 points per game, chipped in 11 points and five boards.

Edinboro's Sheldon Brogdon (Warren, Ohio), a redshirt-senior guard, did his best to match the three-point barrage levied by Mehmetaj and Redband, ending with a game-high 31 points off the Fighting Scots' bench.  Brogdon hit a blistering 12-of-15 shots from the field, including 7-of-9 from three-point range.

Senior guard Chibunna Ukandu (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) tossed in 19 points for EU which also got a near double-double (eight points, 14 rebounds) from sophomore center Jack Frank (Odessa, Fla.).  The Fighting Scots' leading scorer, redshirt-junior guard Jaymon Mason (Edinboro, Pa.), a first-team All-PSAC West pick last season who came into today's contest averaging better than 19 points a game, was limited to just 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Daemen used proficient long-range shooting to open up a double-figure lead less than nine minutes into the contest.  Six of the Wildcats' first seven field goals came from behind the arc with Mehmetaj's triple at the 11:01 mark extending Daemen's early edge to 22-10.  The lead would grow to 17 points (35-18) when Redband's fourth three-pointer of the half capped a 9-2 spurt.

Buoyed by Brogdon, who scored 11 points in the final six minutes of the half, Edinboro chipped away and got back within eight points (42-34) on a layup by Frank with just under minute to go, before Hannah closed the half with a jumper for a 10-point Wildcat advantage (44-34) at the break.  Daemen shot 9-of-18 from three-point range in the period.

The hosts then stormed out of the locker room with a 9-2 run to start the second half, pulling within one point at 46-45 on a pair of free throws by Mason at the 17:14 mark.  Daemen would extend back to an eight-point lead at the 13:58 mark following a layup by Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame).  

But, the Fighting Scots would rattle off nine straight points - five from Brogdon and four from Division I transfer Andre Frederick (Detroit, Mich.) - grabbing their first lead of the ballgame (56-55) on a Brogdon three-pointer at the 10:47 mark which sparked a string of six lead changes over the next two minutes and 13 seconds.  After another Brogdon jumper put EU ahead 60-59 with under nine minutes to play, Mehmetaj delivered what turned out to be the final lead change of the game, hitting a three-pointer at the 8:34 mark that not only put the Wildcats back on top, but it also sparked a 13-2 run that saw Daemen re-establish a double-figure lead at 72-62.  Mehmetaj would add two more from long range in the spurt which was capped by Hamilton's layup off a feed from Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Polk State College) at the 6:10 mark, prompting an Edinboro timeout.

The Fighting Scots emerged from the timeout with another Brogdon three-pointer to temporarily stem the tide.  But, the Wildcats responded with seven more unanswered, going back ahead by 14 (79-65) on another Redband three-ball at the 4:25 mark.  Mehmataj, who wound up with 16 points in the final 8:34 of the contest, added yet another three-pointer at the 2:39 mark to extend Daemen's advantage to 16 points (84-68).

EU would cut it back to a seven-point deficit (84-77) with 1:21 to play following a 9-0 spurt that saw an old-fashioned three-point play by Ukandu sandwiched between two Brogdon bombs.  But, they would get no closer as Daemen shot 4-of-5 from the charity stripe in the final 1:12, while also adding a breakaway dunk by Hannah to preserve the win.

Daemen ended the game shooting 34-of-66 from the field (52-percent), including 15-of-29 from downtown (52-percent) - the most three-pointers for the Wildcats since knocking down the same number in a 106-102 score-fest of a win over Dowling College last season (February 5, 2016).  Mehmetaj canned 6-of-8 long balls and put up a career-high 30 points in that one.

The Wildcat defense forced 15 Edinboro turnovers, resulting in a 22-9 boon in points off miscues.  

Edinboro shot 44-percent from the field (28-of-63), and 32-percent from three-point land (10-of-31).  But, take out Brogdon's 7-of-9 showing from deep and the Fighting Scots were a chilly 3-of-22 (14-percent) from long distance.

The offensive production today marked a return to normalcy of sorts for the Wildcats.  Despite coming into today's contest unbeaten, the Wildcats had done so without scoring more than 75 points, while limiting its opponents to just 59.0 points per game.  Daemen has led the East Coast Conference in scoring in two of the last three seasons, and is now 57-2 when scoring 90 or more points since the start of the 2009-10 season.

The milestone win for MacDonald comes in his 64th game on the Daemen bench.  The veteran mentor spent 18 seasons Division I Canisius College, including nine as the Golden Griffins' head coach (1997-2006) where his 108 wins rank third all-time.  Macdonald went on to transform the Division III program at Medaille College into a regional contender, posting 148 wins over eight seasons to become the Mavericks' all-time leader in wins.  Since taking the reins at Daemen, MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a 44-20 record.

Daemen returns home to Lumsden Gymnasium, where they are 59-8 since the start of the 2011-12 season, to host Slippery Rock University for a matinee affair this Friday, November 25.  Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.

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