AMHERST, N.Y. - Another weekend, and another challenging road trip for the Daemen College men's basketball team.
 
After enduring long road trips to Long Island, N.Y. and northeastern Indiana the past two weekends, the Wildcats will take a “short” two-hour bus ride to Erie, Pa. this weekend to take part in the 29th edition of the Gary Miller Classic hosted by Gannon University.
 
Daemen (7-2) will face Virginia Union University (0-1) in the tournament semifinals Friday (Nov. 23) at 5:30 p.m. The host Golden Knights (2-0) will take on Roberts Wesleyan College (1-1) in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The two semifinal winners will meet for the tournament championship Saturday (Nov. 24) at 7:30 p.m. The consolation game takes place Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
 
Gannon and Virginia Union are both historically strong NCAA Division II members. Roberts Wesleyan, like Daemen, is in the process of transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II.
 
The Wildcats are making their third-straight appearance in the tournament. Last year Daemen stunned Gannon, 67-65, in the semifinals. It marked the Wildcat's first-ever victory over the Golden Knights in 10 all-time meetings. Daemen then claimed the tournament title with a 72-65 win over Pitt-Johnstown. Casey Sheehan was named tournament MVP after canning 6-of-7 three-pointers and scoring 24 points off the bench in the title game. Jim Regan was an all-tournament selection after scoring 17 points in the win over Gannon. It marked Gannon's first loss to a NAIA team since 1990. Daemen also advanced to the tournament title game in 2009, but suffered a 101-75 loss to the host Golden Knights.
 
The Wildcats will have to get past one of the most storied NCAA Division II programs in the nation in order to defend the title. Virginia Union ranks as the third winningest program in Division II history, having won 69-percent (1,451-662) of its games over the past 87 seasons. The Panthers claimed the Division II national title in 1980, 1992 and 2005, and seven former Panthers have played in the NBA—including Charles Oakley and Ben Wallace.
 
Daemen is ranked sixth in the first United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division I poll. The Wildcats stormed out of the gates, averaging 101 points in five wins over Canadian colleges. Over the past two weekends the Wildcats have gone 2-2 and averaged 74 points against NCAA and NAIA teams. They defeated Queens College (76-64) and lost a heart breaker (80-79) to Molloy College during the Molloy Tipoff Classic. Both teams are future East Coast Conference opponents. Daemen earned a hard-fought 75-72 win at Taylor University this past Friday night, before dropping a 76-67 decision to Indiana Wesleyan University less than 24 hours later. Indiana Wesleyan is ranked fourth nationally among NAIA Division II teams.
 
Sophomore Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) has been the most consistent performer for the Wildcats thus far. The 6-foot-7 forward has recorded six double-doubles and leads the team in scoring (16.6 ppg), rebounding (9.1 rpg) and blocks (15). He is shooting 60-percent (54-90) and scored a career-high 28 points in the loss to Molloy.
 
Fellow forwards Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) and Jim Regan (Williamsville, N.Y./Nichols) have also produced. Johnson has scored in double figures seven times and recorded his third double-double of the year (14 pts, 11 rebs) in the loss to Molloy. He is shooting a team-high 66-percent (46-70) from the field and is averaging 11.8 points and 8.0 rebounds. Regan, who netted 18 points in the loss to Molloy, is shooting 63-percent (39-62) and is averaging 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds.
 
Junior guard Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) scored 21 points in the win over Taylor and is averaging 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Junior point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) is logging a team-high 27 minutes a game and is averaging 6.3 assists with a team-high 16 steals. He has averaged 33 minutes and handed out 23 assists (with just eight turnovers) over the past four games.
 
Bench support has come in the form of sophomore Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) and junior college transfers Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Eric CC) and Alvin Satram (New Port Richey, Fla./Pasco-Hernando CC). Greene is averaging 7.7 points and is ranked second in three-pointers (11). Ogbonna has reached double figures in scoring four times and is averaging 10.6 points. Satram has drained a team-high 15 three-pointers and is averaging 7.4 points.
 
Friday's semifinal will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Virginia Union.
 
Virginia Union will be playing its first game since opening the 2012-13 season with a 71-69 loss to NCAA Division II King College on Nov. 10. Forward Damion Harris scored 17 points in the loss, while freshman forward Kimar Johnson added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Panthers are coming off a 15-14 season and are picked to finish third in the Northern Division of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Harris is a preseason all-conference selection. The 6-foot-7 forward collected first-team All-CIAA honors last year after leading the Panthers in both scoring (12.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg).
 
Gannon is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Gannon has posted at least 14 wins four times during the last five seasons and has recorded 36 winning seasons during the last 40 years. The Golden Knights enter the 2012-13 campaign 12th all-time among NCAA Division II programs in winning percentage (1,142-644 / .639).
 
Gannon was picked to finish third in the PSAC Western Division this year. The Golden Knights return seven letterwinners from a team that finished 14-12. Senior forward Darrell Blanton collected first-team All-PSAC honors last year after leading the team in scoring (17.1 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg) and blocks (25). Sophomore point guard Adam Blazek was named PSAC Western Division Freshman of the Year and second-team All-PSAC last winter after averaging 15.5 points.
 
The Golden Knights opened the 2012-13 season with wins over Glenville State College (70-67) and Ohio Valley University (91-65). Blanton scored 21 in the win over Glenville State and followed up with a double-double (19 pts, 11 rebs) in the win over Ohio Valley.
 
Roberts Wesleyan and Daemen are both in the process of going from NAIA to NCAA Division II. RWC is a member of the NCAA Division II East Coast Conference (ECC), which Daemen will join as a probationary member next year.
 
The Redhawks were picked ninth in the ECC preseason poll. RWC posted an 8-20 record last year. Sophomore guard Mike Stone returns after averaging 12.9 points and leading the team in three-pointers (59) and assists (62) as a rookie. RWC opened the season with a 100-74 loss to Mansfield University, before posting a 60-44 win over Houghton College Tuesday night. Senior forward Devin Grimes totaled 17 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to Mansfield, and followed up with 22 points and 12 boards in the win over Houghton.
 
Daemen and RWC are both former members of the now defunct American Mideast Conference. The teams have met 16 times in the past seven seasons and Daemen has prevailed in 12 of the past 16 meetings (and 10 of the last 11). The teams met three times last season, with Daemen prevailing in all three games. The Wildcats swept the two regular-season meetings, and also posted a 65-45 win in the AMC tournament semifinals at Lumsden Gymnasium.
 
LIVE STATS VS. VIRGINIA UNION
LIVE VIDEO VS. VIRGINIA UNION

* Check back to wildcats.daemen.edu for live stats and live video links for Saturday's game after the completion of Friday night's games.