AMHERST, N.Y. - Salem, West Virginia. The sleepy little town (pop. 2,000) in the northeast part of the state is not exactly considered a vacation destination. That is just fine with the Daemen College men's basketball team, which will head there this weekend for a trip that is “strictly business.”
 
The Wildcats will take part in the Joe Manchin Classic hosted by Salem International University. Daemen will face the host SIU Tigers Friday (Dec. 7) at 7 p.m. and square off against Newberry College Saturday (Dec. 8) at 5 p.m. Both SIU and Newberry are NCAA Division II members.
 
Daemen is ranked sixth in the USCAA Division I poll released Nov. 30. The new USCAA poll will be unveiled Friday, Dec. 7.
 
Daemen (10-3) was clicking on all cylinders in wins over the University of Maine Fort-Kent (96-67) and Sheridan College (113-53) this past week. The two wins improved the Wildcats to 7-0 at home. Daemen is 1-3 in road games and 2-0 in neutral site games this season.
 
The Wildcats have gone 2-2 against NCAA Division II teams thus far. They defeated Queens College (76-64) and lost a heart breaker (80-79) to Molloy College during the Molloy Tipoff Classic in early November. Daemen defeated Virginia Union University (82-66) and lost to Gannon University (65-46) at the Gary Miller Classic two weeks ago.
 
Sophomore big man Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) has put up some impressive numbers in the four games against Division II opponents this season. He totaled a career-high 28 points in the loss to Molloy and is averaging 17.3 points and 9.3 rebounds against D2 teams. The 6-foot-7 forward has recorded seven double-doubles overall and leads the team in scoring (16.1 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg) and blocks (24).
 
Fellow forwards Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) and Jim Regan (Williamsville, N.Y./Nichols) have also produced. Johnson has scored in double figures eight times and scored a career-high 18 points in the loss to Gannon. He is shooting a team-high 63-percent (56-89) from the field and is averaging 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds. Regan, who totaled 19 points and nine rebounds in the win over Sheridan, is shooting 60-percent (59-99) and is averaging 11.2 points and 5.8 rebounds. He stands just 30 points shy of 1,000 for his career and needs just one block to become the fourth player in program history with 100 blocks.
 
The backcourt tandem of Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) has paced the offense all season. Sheehan has scored in double figures eight times and is averaging 11.9 points and 3.7 assists. He has dished out 11 assists over the past two games and in the process moved into 10th place among the program's career assists leaders with 253. Coppola has dished out seven or more assists six times this season and is averaging 6.5 assists. His assist-to-turnover ratio is 4.67 (14/3) over the past two games and 2.71 (84/31) overall. He currently ranks third in career assists (350) among the program's all-time leaders. Both Coppola and Sheehan have recorded a team-high 24 steals and both are set to record their 100th career steal. Coppola enters the weekend with 99 career steals, while Sheehan has 95.
 
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 has shot 68-percent (13-19) from three-point land and has averaged 14.8 points over the past four games. He made 6-of-8 triples and scored a career-high 24 points in the win over Virginia Union and is averaging 9.8 points with a team-high 24 three-pointers. Ogbonna has reached double figures in scoring four times and is averaging 8.6 points. Satram has drained 15 three-pointers and is averaging 5.8 points.
 
Junior Troy Nowak (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) and redshirt sophomore Aaron Davis (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) have also seen consistent playing time. Nowak is averaging over 10 minutes a game and scored a season-high nine points in a win over the University of Toronto. Davis is averaging nearly 15 minutes and scored 12 points in the win over Sheridan.
 
This weekend's action will mark Daemen's first-ever meetings with both Salem International and Newberry.
 
Salem International is a Division II independent. The Tigers (3-5) won three of their first five games, but have dropped their last three. SIU took part in the Wiberforce University tournament this past weekend and suffered losses to Urbana University (87-71) and Central State University (73-64). Senior guards Kam'Mar LaBrew (10.5 ppg, 4.8 apg) and Kenneth McCornell (10.6 ppg, 16 3pt fgs) and senior forwards Juanito Moises (7.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Dexter Batts (9.0 ppg) have led a balanced attack. LaBrew netted 21 points in a season-opening loss to North Georgia, while Batts scored 19 in a 95-74 loss to Lock Haven. The Tigers are averaging nine three-point field goals and 75 points per game.
 
Newberry is a member of the South Atlantic Conference. The Wolves return several key players from last year's team that finished 16-12 and advanced to the semifinals of the SAC Championship Tournament.
 
Newberry (3-4) opened conference play with a 100-95 overtime loss to 12th-ranked Lincoln Memorial Sunday. Five players are averaging in double figures for the high-scoring Wolves, who rank third among Division II schools in points per game (95.3 ppg). Preseason all-conference selections Dondray Walker and Quayshun Hawkins have led the way. Hawkins, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard, has made a team-high 20 three-pointers and is averaging 17.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Walker, a 6-foot-5 forward who was named second-team all-conference and SAC Freshman of the Year last winter, has made 19-of-47 three-pointers and is averaging 15.3 points. Freshman forward Xavier Holmes is shooting 61-percent (40-66) from the field and is averaging 13.6 points. Additional production has come from sophomore guard Demarkus Smith (12.3 ppg), senior forward Brandon Riley (10.3 ppg) and junior guard Brunes Charles (7.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg). The Wolves are averaging 11 three-point field goals per game, which ranks them sixth among Division II schools.