D2SIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION MEDIA POLL WEEK 12 - FEBRUARY 8, 2016
Rank	School	Pts.	Record	Previous
1.	Holy Family	59	19-4	4
2.	Southern Connecticut State	49	18-5	2
3.	Stonehill	47	17-5	6
4.	Saint Anselm	43	17-4	1
5.	Bentley	38	16-5	3
6.	St. Thomas Aquinas	33	18-4	7
7.	Philadelphia	24	18-5	5
8.	Southern New Hampshire	19	15-8	9
T-9.	DAEMEN	6	14-6	RV
T-9.	Adelphi	6	17-7	8

AMHERST, N.Y. - A recent nine-game winning streak has elevated the Daemen College men's basketball team into the latest version of the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll which was released this afternoon with Daemen coming in tied at No. 9.  This marks the first time this season that Daemen has been ranked in the poll.  The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the East Region media poll is voted on by sports information professionals from around the region.

Head coach Mike MacDonald has his team situated at 14-6 overall and 10-3 in ECC play, sitting alone in second place in the current league standings.  The Wildcats received six points in the voting this week, tied with Adelphi University (17-7) of the Northeast-10 Conference.

Daemen's current nine-game winning streak is the team's longest since winning 14 in a row during the 2013-14 season.  Most recently, Daemen extended the streak by defeating Dowling College (106-102 last Friday) and University of Bridgeport (78-69 yesterday) in a pair of home ECC games.  Sunday's win over UB broke a tie between the Wildcats and Purple Knights who each entered the game at 9-3 in the league.

Redshirt-junior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) erupted for a career-high 30 points, and added 13 rebounds, while senior guard/forward Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y./San Jacinto College) netted 29 in the win over Dowling.  The Wildcats hit the century mark in the score column for the third-straight game, the first time doing so since registering four consecutive 100-point outings to start the 2012-13 season.

Against UB, redshirt-freshman guard/forward Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) hit for a career-high 19 points to pace the Wildcats.  Hamilton is one of three freshmen in Daemen's starting five, along with guards Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame).  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, making the Wildcats' ascent all that much more impressive.

The Wildcats have rebounded from a bit of a rocky start, picking up 13 wins in their last 16 games, dating back to an 88-79 non-conference victory over Edinboro University.  They've done it on the strength of one of the most potent offenses in the region.  At present, Daemen ranks second among East Region teams in points per game (86.8), behind only Southern Connecticut State University (91.7 ppg) which, incidentally, is ranked second in this week's poll.

Dyck has been on an incredible tear throughout the winning streak, posting four 30-point games and averaging 26.3 points per game in the span which dates back to a 94-81 victory over Mercy College on January 9.  For the season, Dyck is averaging 23.4 points per game which leads both the ECC and East Region (tied in the region with Tyaire Ponzo-Meek of Wilmington University).

Holy Family University (19-4), a CACC affiliate and a team which defeated Daemen 89-86 early in the season, was vaulted into the top spot in the poll this week, gaining five of the six available first-place votes to move up from No. 4 last week.