AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball team will play host to Salem International University Saturday (1/26) in its final home game of the 2012-13 season. Game time is 4 p.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus.
 
Senior Jim Regan (Williamsville, N.Y./Nichols) will be honored in a ceremony before the game in recognition of his final home game.  Senior Day festivities will commence at approximately 3:55 p.m. or five minutes prior tipoff.
 
Regan has played in 114 of a possible 117 games over his four-year career. Daemen has posted a 73-44 record over his career, including a 41-16 mark over the past two seasons. He has started every game over the past two seasons and helped the Wildcats to an American Mideast Conference title and an appearance in the NAIA Division II Tournament last year. He averaged 12.5 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds as a junior and collected second-team All-AMC honors. A 2012-13 team captain, he enters today's game with 1,127 career points and needs just 55 more to break into the top 10 all-time at Daemen.  He ranks seventh in career rebounds (524), third in career blocks (113) and fourth in career games played (114) among Daemen's all-time leaders.
 
Daemen (21-5) has been ranked fourth in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division I poll for seven straight weeks. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 games and have recorded 20 wins for the second-straight year (and the seventh time in the past 11 years).
 
The Wildcats are playing their first home game since posting back-to-back wins over Redeemer on Dec. 28 & 29. Daemen is 11-0 at home this year and has won 21-straight games at Lumsden Gym dating back to last season.
 
Five players are averaging in double figures for Daemen, which is scoring at an average of 90 points per game.
 
Regan led the team to wins over Maine-Presque Isle (93-70), Maine Fort-Kent (107-66) and Fisher College (96-82) last weekend. He scored a career-high 31 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds against UMPI and followed up with 21 points against UMFK and 23 against Fisher. He is averaging 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
 
Junior guard Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and sophomore forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) have paced Daemen's balanced attack. Sheehan, who poured in a career-high 35 points in a recent victory over Redeemer, leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and steals (50) and ranks second in three-pointers (28) and assists (4.3 apg). Beverly has been sidelined with an injury lately. He has recorded nine double-doubles on the year and is averaging 14.6 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds. He has also totaled a team-high 43 blocks and stands just seven blocks shy of 100 for his two-year career.
 
Junior point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) has dished out seven or more assists 11 times this season. He is averaging 5.9 points and leads the team in assists per game (6.4) and ranks second in steals (46). He currently ranks third in career assists (426) among the program's all-time leaders and stands just 13 assists shy of moving past Therreon Blackwell into second place.
 
Sophomore forward Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) has emerged as the team's primary three-point threat. He has drained a three-pointer in 13 of the last 14 games and is shooting 45-percent (51-114) from behind the arc on the year. He is averaging 12.3 points since entering the starting lineup nine games ago. Junior forward Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) is shooting a team-high 63-percent (83-131) from the field and is averaging 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds. He canned 7-of-9 shots and netted 16 points in the win over Fisher.
 
Junior Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Erie CC) scored 11 points in the win over UMFK and is averaging 8.0 points off the bench. Sophomore Aaron Davis (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) has seen increased playing time in recent games and scored 11 points in a win over Virginia-Lynchburg. Junior Alvin Satram (Port Richey, Fla./Pasco Hernando CC) has made a three-pointer in nine of the last 10 games and ranks second in three-pointers (28). Freshman Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) drilled 3-of-4 three-pointers and scored a career-high 13 points in the win over UMFK.
 
Daemen defeated Salem International, 86-66, earlier this year in the opening round of the Joe Manchin Classic hosted by SIU. It marked the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Sheehan led the way with 25 points, while Johnson added 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Dexter Batts scored a team-high 16 points for SIU.
 
Salem International is a Division II independent. The Tigers (9-11) have dropped five of their last seven games. SIU posted a 93-65 victory over West Virginia Tech on Jan. 12 and is coming off back-to-back losses to Urbana University (83-65) and Cedarville University (82-77). Senior guard Kenneth McCornell scored 28 points in the win over WVT and is averaging a team-high 11.1 points. Additional production has come from senior guards Kam'Mar LaBrew (10.8 ppg, 4.2 apg) and Raymar Porter (9.2 ppg, 36 stls) and senior forward Juanito Moises (8.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg). The Tigers are averaging nine three-point field goals and 75.6 points per game.

In addition to Saturday's Senior Day festivities, coaches from both teams will be partaking in Suits and Sneaks Awareness Weekend - a national program sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as part of their Coaches vs. Cancer initative.  Both coaching staffs will be donning sneakers with their normal game attire to help raise awareness about the fight against cancer.  Donations will be accepted throughout the game and all proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Foundation.

Saturday's game is also Amherst Youth Basketball Day at Lumsden Gymnasium.  All participants in Amherst Youth Basketball are invited to attend and encouraged to wear their team jerseys.  Two teams from the organization will square off for a mini-scrimmage at halftime.