D2SIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION MEDIA POLL WEEK 13 - FEBRUARY 15, 2016
Rank	School	Pts.	Record	Previous
1.	Holy Family	60	21-4	1
2.	Southern Connecticut State	51	19-6	2
3.	Stonehill	47	18-6	3
4.	St. Thomas Aquinas	43	20-4	6
5.	Saint Anselm	37	18-5	4
6.	Bentley	31	17-6	5
7.	Philadelphia	25	19-6	7
8.	Southern New Hampshire	16	16-9	8
9.	Adelphi	12	19-7	T9
10.	DAEMEN	7	15-7	T9

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team is ranked in the latest version of the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll. Released yesterday afternoon, Daemen is ranked 10th after entering the poll for the first time all season last week tied for No. 9.

The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference (ECC), the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), and the East Region media poll is voted on by sports information professionals from around the region.

Under the guidance of second-year head coach Mike MacDonald, the Wildcats stand at 15-7 overall and 11-4 in ECC. Daemen sits alone in second place in the current league standings and is just one win away from cliching a spot in the upcoming six-tream ECC Championship tournament in its first season of eligibility.

Daemen, which garnered seven points in this week's poll, went 1-1 last week. The Wildcats saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end following an 86-62 loss at league-leading St. Thomas Aquinas College last Thursday. STAC (20-4, 14-2 ECC) has won a region-best 14-straight games and is ranked fourth in this week's D2SIDA regional poll. Daemen got back on track following a 100-86 win at Mercy College on Saturday. It marked the fifth time this season the Wildcats have scored 100 or more points in a game. Daemen currently ranks first in the ECC and 33rd among all NCAA Division II schools in points per game (86.3).

Senior guard Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) and redshirt-junior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) have led Daemen's high-scoring attack. Dyck has scored over 25 points in a game 11 times this season and ranks third among the region's scoring leaders (22.7 ppg). He is also contributing 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Mehmetaj erupted for a career-high 30 points, and added 13 rebounds in a recent win over Dowling College and is averaging 16.5 points and 6.6 rebounds with a team-high 41 three-pointers.

Additional production has come from first-year players Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena), Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame). Hamilton has started the last 11 games and is averaging 10.1 points and 4.7 rebounds over that stretch. Sarkis is a four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and is averaging 8.2 points and 2.5 assists per game. Garvin has started the last six games and has averaged 7.7 points during that stretch.

The greenhorns have played a central role of late for the Wildcats who have lost veteran backcourt starters Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) and Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y./Thomasville Prep) for the season due to injuries. The Wildcats have picked up 14 wins in their last 18 games, dating back to an 88-79 non-conference victory over Edinboro University.

The Wildcats play three home games in a span of six days this week. Daemen kicks off the week by hosting long-time rival Roberts Weslyan College tonight at 8 p.m. The Wildcats pulled off an incredible comeback win over the Redhawks last month in Rochester. Dyck scored 18 points in the final six minutes of the game--helping Daemen erase a 22-point deficit with a furious 34-10 rally. Dyck's driving layup with just four seconds left was the difference in a 98-96 instant classic that saw him match his career-high with 35 points. Daemen closes out the week by hosting Long Island University--Post Friday (Feb. 19) and New York Institute of Technology Sunday (Feb. 21).

Holy Family University (21-4), a CACC affiliate and a team which defeated Daemen 89-86 early in the season, remains atop the D2SIDA East Region poll for the second-straight week. The Tigers gained all six of the available first-place votes.