Wildcats To Face D-1 Buffalo In Exhibition Action

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Men's Basketball | 8/1/2018 10:25:00 AM

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team will once again get the opportunity to showcase their talents against a Division I opponent, opening the 2018-19 season with an exhibition contest against the University at Buffalo on Friday, October 26. The game takes place just three miles from Daemen's Amherst campus at UB's 6,100-seat Alumni Arena with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. This will mark the sixth straight season that the Wildcats have played an exhibition game against a Division I opponent, and the fourth straight season that they'll be making the short trip to face UB.

"We are excited to once again have the opportunity to compete against a Division I program like Buffalo," said veteran head coach Mike MacDonald who enters his fifth season on the Wildcats' bench, and his 22nd overall as a collegiate bench boss. "Basketball fans in Western New York have really gotten behind [Buffalo head coach] Nate Oates and the program he and his staff have built, and that's what we're trying to capture locally at the Division II level as well. The exposure that our program gets and the experience our players have just by playing against Buffalo is immeasurable. The atmosphere in Alumni Arena is something our players will remember for the rest of their lives."

Daemen will be seeking its second upset of a Division I program under MacDonald's guidance. In his Daemen coaching debut on November 11, 2014, MacDonald led the Wildcats to an 83-81 overtime win just five miles down Main Street at the Koessler Athletic Center against Division I Canisius College. Just one player who played in that game - redshirt senior guard Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y.) - remains on the Daemen roster heading into the 2018-19 season. In regular season action, MacDonald has led the Wildcats to an 81-37 record over his first four seasons on the job.

UB has prevailed in each of the exhibition contests over the last three seasons. The closest of the three came at the outset of the 2016-17 season in a game that felt more like late March as opposed to early November. The Bulls scored an 87-82 win in overtime, but not before the Division II Wildcats led for more than 12 minutes in the second half. UB took last season's meeting 77-55.

UB posted a 27-9 record last season, the program's ninth winning season in the last 10 years. They captured the Mid-American Conference East Division championship as well as the program's third MAC Tournament title in the last four seasons. They weren't done there, however, as the Bulls went on to upset fourth-seeded University of Arizona for the program's first NCAA Tournament win at the Division I level. Oates, the 2017-18 MAC Coach of the Year who has led UB to a 64-39 record over his first three seasons, brings back a core group that includes All-MAC honorees C.J. Massinburg, Nick Perkins and Jeremy Harris, while also welcoming a recruiting class that includes Rochester native Jeenathan Williams, the No. 83 prospect in the Class of 2018 according to rivals.com.

The Wildcats also return a core of players that played integral roles in leading the team to a 22-8 record last season, the program's seventh consecutive season with at least 19 wins. Four All-East Coast Conference players return - redshirt sophomore center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.), redshirt junior guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.), redshirt junior forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) and junior guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) - as well as team MVP Darius Garvin (Elmira, N.Y.), a senior guard. Sischo, a first team All-ECC selection and the league's Rookie of the Year in 2017-18, headlines the group after averaging 15.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#24 Nick Petrucelli: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

#24 Nick Petrucelli
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior
: G

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

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

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