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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
2018 ecc-cacc hoops

Men's Basketball By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Matchups Set For ECC-CACC Challenge

2018 ECC-CACC Challenge Presented By WNY Knee & Orthopedic Surgery PC
Friday, November 9 Saturday, November 10
6 p.m. - Roberts Wesleyan vs. Nyack 2 p.m. - Roberts Wesleyan vs. Caldwell
8 p.m. - Daemen vs. Caldwell 4 p.m. - Daemen vs. Nyack
AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team will open the 2018-19 regular season by hosting the East Coast Conference-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (ECC-CACC) Challenge presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC at Lumsden Gymnasium, head coach Mike MacDonald announced today, along with the matchups for the four-team event. It will mark the fifth consecutive season that Daemen has hosted this event to open the regular season. Additional participants this time around are Roberts Wesleyan College of the ECC, as well as Nyack College and Caldwell University of the CACC.

"The opening weekend of the season should be a real challenge for us," said MacDonald. "Cadwell returns four of their top five scorers from a team that won 16 games. Nyack is a very well-coached team that returns four of their top six scorers. When you have those two CACC teams along with a really good Roberts Wesleyan team that has a lot of guys back and that is coach by a guy, Rob McCoy, who really could have been the ECC Coach of the Year last year, there will be some very good basketball played on the opening weekend. Of course we are really excited that Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC will once again sponsor the event. The support of Dr. Keith Stube and Dr. Michael Parentis has been invaluable to our program, and it allows us to host one of the best conference challenge events in the country." 

The event tips off at 6 p.m. on Friday, November 9 with Roberts Wesleyan taking on Nyack. The RWC Redhawks will be making their fifth straight appearance at the event, while the Nyack Warriors come to the tournament for the second straight year. RWC used a pair of wins at this event last season to propel themselves to a 14-14 campaign, an 11-win improvement from the 2016-17 campaign. Nyack will be looking to get off to a better start after dropping both their games here last season. Jason Crafton, a former Navy and Villanova assistant, heads into his seventh season leading the Warriors. 

The 8 p.m. nightcap on November 9 has Daemen taking on Caldwell in a rematch of the teams' 2016-17 season opener which was won by the home-standing Wildcats, 75-64. The matchup features a pair of veteran coaches in Daemen's MacDonald and Caldwell's Mark Corino who have combined for 900 victories. The Wildcats will enter the contest with a 16-game winning streak in regular season openers and a 7-1 record all-time in the ECC-CACC Challenge.

The matchups flip on Saturday, November 10. Roberts Wesleyan takes on Caldwell at 2 p.m. and Daemen will face Nyack at 4 p.m. Daemen, which holds a 3-1 lead in the all-time series with Nyack, defeated the Warriors 78-60 in their ECC-CACC Challenge matchup last season, the teams' first meeting since the 2002-03 season.

MacDonald's Wildcats are coming off a 22-8 campaign, the program's seventh consecutive season with at least 19 wins. All five starters return, headlined by East Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and first team all-conference selection Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) who led the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg). 

For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts. 
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Players Mentioned

Andrew Sischo

#22 Andrew Sischo

C
6' 9"
Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

Andrew Sischo

#22 Andrew Sischo

6' 9"
Redshirt Freshman
C