Men's Basketball 1/15/2018 1:38:00 PM By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Daemen Slides Into Regional Rankings For First Time This Season

Wildcats Tied For 10th in Latest D2SIDA East Region Media Poll

D2SIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION MEDIA POLL WEEK 8 - JANUARY 15, 2018
Rank	School	Pts.	Record	Previous
1.	Bridgeport (5)	58	14-4	1
2.	St. Thomas Aquinas	51	14-4	T-2
3.	Le Moyne (1)	46	12-5	T-6
4.	Bloomfield	44	13-3	4
5.	St. Anselm	38	13-3	5
6.	Southern New Hampshire	28	11-4	T-2
7.	Dominican	21	12-4	8
8.	Merrimack	20	12-5	T-6
9.	St. Rose	18	13-4	9
T-10.	DAEMEN	2	11-6	NR
T-10.	Roberts Wesleyan	2	11-5	NR
( ) - denotes first-place votes

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team is tied for 10th in the latest version of the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll which was released this afternoon. It is Daemen's first appearance in the regional rankings since the final week of the 2015-16 season. 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 tutelage of veteran head coach Mike MacDonald, the Wildcats have won six straight contests to stand at 11-6 overall and 5-2 in ECC play. The Wildcats' winning streak presently ranks as the longest active streak among ECC teams, and second to only St. Anselm College's eight-game streak among East Region teams. The Wildcats are coming off a sweep of three home games in a five-day span last week, defeating ECC foes University of the District of Columbia (80-56 on Jan. 10), Long Island University Post (74-66 on Jan. 12) and New York Institute of Technology (93-82 on Jan. 14).

The Wildcats have been carried by balanced scoring and strong defense since losing leading scorer Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y.) for the season several games ago. With Hamilton's 15.1 points per game lost, redshirt freshman center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) has become the focal point of Daemen's offense. The 6-foot-9 greenhorn leads all ECC freshmen in scoring (13.8 ppg), and he's produced four double-doubles since Christmas. Sischo has reached double figures in nine straight games, producing 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 59.1 percent from the field (68-for-115) in that span.

Sophomore guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), whose insertion into the team's starting lineup coincides with their recent winning streak, has come on strong as well. In six games a starter, the 5-foot-9 Harris is producing 13.7 points on 62.2 percent shooting (33-for-53). Last week was Harris' finest in a Daemen uniform; he totaled 16 points, seven rebounds and seven steals in the grind-it-out win over LIU Post, and he went on to shoot a perfect 9-for-9 from the field while totaling a career-high 23 points to go with eight boards and six assists in the win over NYIT.

Additional production is coming from guards Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) and Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.), and from forwards Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) and Aleks Miljenovic (Belgrade, Serbia). Sarkis, who has made at least one three-pointer in 22 consecutive games, is contributing 12.6 points and 3.6 assists per game. He ranks among the ECC leaders in three-point field goals (total: 41, ECC rank: second), three-point field goal percentage (46.6, fourth) and total assists (62, third). Garvin is averaging a career-best 9.5 points per game with double-figure scoring in six of the last seven outings. Redband, who matched his season-high with 19 points in the win over UDC last week, is chipping in with 10.6 points per game and over 40 percent three-point shooting. Miljenovic notched back-to-back 17-point outings vs. UDC and LIU Post, and the redshirt senior is contributing 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game off the bench.

The Wildcats head into this week with the ECC's most efficient offense, shooting a league-best 48.7 percent from the field, and the league's stingiest defense, allowing ECC-lows of 72.0 points per game and 42.0 percent field-goal shooting.

Daemen's lone ECC losses this season have come against the University of Bridgeport and St. Thomas Aquinas College who are ranked first and second, respectively, in this week's East Region poll. The Wildcats are ranked one spot behind NE-10 affiliate College of St. Rose which Daemen beat 68-60 on the road on Dec. 31. The Wildcats are tied in the poll with Roberts Wesleyan College, a team which Daemen defeated by 25 points (98-73) on the road on Jan. 6.

Daemen returns to action this Friday, Jan. 19 with an ECC road game at Molloy College.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Darius Garvin: G; 6' 1"; Junior

#2 Breon Harris: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#23 Aleks Miljenovic: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Senior

#44 Jeff Redband: F; 6' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore

#5 Jay Sarkis: G; 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore

#22 Andrew Sischo: C; 6' 9"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

#12 Darius Garvin
: 6' 1"; Junior
: G

#2 Breon Harris
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Aleks Miljenovic
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#44 Jeff Redband
: 6' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore
: F

#5 Jay Sarkis
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

#22 Andrew Sischo
: 6' 9"; Redshirt Freshman
: C