Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013
Voller Athletic Center, Rochester, N.Y.

THE MATCHUP: The Daemen College men's basketball team travels to rival Roberts Wesleyan College for an East Coast Conference game Tuesday (Nov. 26) at 8 p.m…it will mark Daemen's first-ever ECC game…live stats are available HERE…live streaming video is available HERE.

THE COACHES: Don Silveri is entering his 25th season as head men's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 396-339 (.539) record during his time with the Wildcats...his Daemen record boasts eight 20-win seasons, including four consecutive from 2002-2006 and seven in the last 11 years...he has guided the Wildcats to four conference championships (1999-2000, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2011-12), four appearances at the NAIA Division II National Tournament and one appearance at the USCAA National Tournament...2012-13 was a season for the record books as Silveri guided the Wildcats to a team-record 27 wins and a runner-up finish at the USCAA Tournament...he also spent time as head coach at Villa Maria College (1976-80) and Erie Community College (1982-86)…Rob McCoy is in his 12th season as head coach at Roberts Wesleyan and entered the 2013-14 season with a career record of 137-186 (.424)…he has led the Redhawks to two (2006, 2011) semifinal appearances in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Tournament.

NCAA DIVISION II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Two of the NCAA Division II membership process...Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and will play full regular-season conference schedules beginning this fall...the College will also maintain its affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) for postseason opportunities, as it will not be eligible for the ECC or NCAA postseason during Candidacy Year Two.

DAEMEN VS. NCAA DIVISION II OPPONENTS: The Wildcats went 6-3 against NCAA Division II opponents last season and are 9-4 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.

THE SERIES: Tuesday's game will mark the 36th all-time meeting between the two former American Mideast Conference (AMC) rivals…Daemen has prevailed in the last four meetings and owns a 24-11 advantage in the all-time series…the teams met once last year and the Wildcats posted a 73-67 victory at Voller Athletic Center on Dec. 11…five players reached double figures for Daemen…Mark Coppola hit several clutch shots down the stretch and finished with a team-high 14 points and five assists…Casey Sheehan and Gerald Beverly made the most of their homecoming…Sheehan totaled 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Beverly contributed 12 points, seven boards and two blocks…Mike Stone led the Redhawks with 17 points and four steals, while Devin Grimes totaled 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists…the teams met three times during the 2011-12 season…the Wildcats swept the two regular-season meetings (65-46, 70-62) and also posted a 65-45 victory over the Redhawks in the semifinals of the AMC Tournament at Lumsden Gym.

THE WILDCATS: Daemen returns four starters from last year's team that set a program-record for wins (27-6) in a season and advanced to the championship game of the USCAA Tournament…the Wildcats opened the season with wins over Ohio Valley (111-90) and Goldey-Beacom (59-56) during the Knee Center of WNY Tipoff Classic at Daemen…Daemen ventured to California two weeks ago and suffered losses to UC San Diego (66-56) and Cal State San Marcos (88-74)…it marked the first time the Wildcats have dropped two straight games since December of 2011…the Wildcays are coming off a 69-63 victory over Mercyhurst this past Saturday…senior guard Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and junior forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) top the list of returning players...Sheehan averaged a team-best 16.0 points per game and collected first-team USCAA All-America honors last year…Sheehan totaled 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the season-opening win over Ohio Valley and registered 23 points and five assists in the loss to CSUSM…he is averaging 18.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists…Beverly is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which he shot .597 from the field, averaged 14.3 points and led the team in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and blocks (59)...he was named second-team USCAA All-America…Beverly was named ECC Co-Player of the Week and Tournament MVP after shooting 61-percent (14-23) from the field and totaling 38 points, 29 rebounds and nine blocks during the Knee Center of WNY Tipoff Classic…he is shooting 57-percent (28-49) from the field and is averaging 15.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks…senior point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) and senior forward Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) also return to the starting lineup...Coppola started all 32 games and averaged 6.3 assists per game last year…he suffered an injury during the season-opening win over OVU and has not played in the last four games…Johnson started 23 games, shot a team-high .603 from the field and averaged 10.1 points and 6.9 rebounds last year…he saw his first action of the year Saturday against Mercyhurst after suffering a preseason injury….junior sharpshooter Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) also returns after averaging 11.3 points with a team-high 69 three-pointers last year…he totaled 18 points in the win over GBC and is averaging 10.8 points…senior forward Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Erie CC) has started the first five games and was named to the Knee Center of WNY Tipoff Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 16.0 rebounds over the two games…he is averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 11.6 rebounds…sophomore Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) made his first career start and played all 40 minutes in the win over GBC…he has started the last four games and is averaging 4.6 points and 3.4 assists…6-foot-7 junior college transfer Steve Carder (Champlain, N.Y./North Country CC) has made immediate contributions up front...Carder averaged 23.5 points and 12.5 rebounds last year and was named NJCAA Region III Player of the Year and NJCAA Division III All-America…he totaled 12 points in the season-opening win over Ohio Valley and is averaging 12.4 minutes and 5.0 points off the bench…Daemen is shooting 44-percent (129-296) from the field overall, 33-percent (25-77) from three-point land and 62-percent (86-138) from the charity stripe…the Wildcats are scoring 73.8 points and allowing 72.6 points per game…Daemen has out rebounded three of its five opponents and owns a +5.0 rebounding margin (41.4 / 36.4).

ROAD WARRIORS: Tuesday's game will mark the first of eight-straight road games for Daemen, which does not play at home again until Jan. 12…the Wildcats are 0-2 in road games this season, but have prevailed eight of their last 11 road/neutral site games dating back to the end of last season.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Tuesday's game will mark a homecoming for Rochester natives Casey Sheehan, Gerald Beverly and Supreme Hannah…Sheehan starred at Greece Athena High School and was named Monroe County Division II Player of the Year following his senior season…Beverly earned second team All-Monroe County Division II honors as a senior at Gates Chili High School…Hannah is a graduate of Eastridge High School and earned first team All-Monroe County Division III honors.

THE REDHAWKS: Roberts Wesleyan is a member of the NCAA Division II East Coast Conference…RWC is in Candidacy Year Three of the NCAA Division II membership process…the Redhawks return nine players and four starters from last year's team that finished 8-22 (4-14 ECC) and advanced to the NCCAA Tournament…RWC was voted ninth in the ECC preseason poll…RWC took part in the Knee Center of WNY Tipoff Classic hosted by Daemen and went 1-1 during the tournament…the Redhawks suffered a 59-48 loss to Goldey-Beacom in the opening round, before posting an 80-72 win over Ohio Valley in the second round…the Redhawks are coming off a 93-74 non-league win over NCAA Division III Houghton College Saturday…power forward Devin Grimes, who averaged a team-high 14.9 points and led the ECC in rebounding (11.4 rpg), was lost to graduation, while guard Mike Stone, who drained a team-high 64 three-pointers and averaged 11.4 points last year, was lost for the season due to injury…sophomore swingman Tyrel Dixon tops the list of returning players…Dixon was named to the ECC All-Rookie team last year after averaging 12.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals…he is averaging 5.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists this season…senior forward Patrick Downer (9.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and sophomore guard William Bromirski (57 3-pt fgs, 8.1 ppg) also return to the starting lineup…Downer netted 16 points in the win over Ohio Valley and is averaging 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds…Bromirski drained four three-pointers and netted 14 points in the win over Houghton and is averaging 8.7 points with a team-high seven three-pointers…newcomers Isaac Medeiros and Kevin Madiamba have made immediate contributions…Medeiros has recorded a double-double in each of the first three games and is averaging a team-high 21.7 points and a conference-best 14.0 rebounds…Madiamba scored 14 points off the bench in the win over OVU and is averaging 10.3 points…RWC is shooting 42-percent (84-199) from the field overall, 39-percent (19-49) from three-point land and 60-percent (34-57) from the charity stripe…the Redhawks are scoring 73.7 points and allowing 68.3 points per game…RWC owns a +7.0 rebounding margin (44.7 / 37.7).

LEAGUE RANKINGS: Daemen leads the ECC in free throws attempted per game (27.6) and ranks third in free throws made per game (17.2)…Roberts Wesleyan ranks second in the league in rebound margin (+7.0), while Daemen ranks third (+5.0)…Daemen ranks second in assists per game (15.6), third in blocks per game (4.0) and fifth in points per game (73.8)…Casey Sheehan ranks seventh in points per game (18.8), fourth in assists per game (4.8) and sixth in steals per game (2.0)…Gerald Beverly leads the league in blocks per game (2.4)…he also ranks third in rebounds per game (10.6), third in field goal percentage (.571) and 13th in points per game (15.4)…Uchechi Ogbonna ranks second in rebounds per game (11.6) and fourth in field goal percentage (.562)…Isaac Medeiros of RWC leads the league in rebounds per game (14.0) and ranks second in scoring (21.7 ppg) and blocks (2.0 bpg).

DID YOU KNOW?: Gerald Beverly has recorded at least one block in 10-straight games (and 19 of the last 20 games) dating back to the end of last season…Beverly has totaled 12 blocks over Daemen's first four games and has moved into third place in career blocks (121) among Daemon's all-time leaders…Mark Coppola posted a 2.74 (203/74) assist-to-turnover ratio last winter, which would have ranked him first in the East Region and seventh overall among NCAA Division II players...Coppola would have also ranked second in the region and sixth overall in assists per game (6.3)…Coppola entered his senior season ranked second in career assists (469) and 10th in career steals (132) among Daemen's all-time leaders…Rob Robinson owns the school-record for most career assists (503)…Casey Sheehan entered his senior season ranked fourth in career assists (345) and seventh in career steals (139).

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen is idle until the second weekend in December when it travels to Long Island for ECC games against LIU-Post (Dec. 13) and New York Tech (Dec. 15).

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College men's basketball on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics or @DaemenMBB) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics or www.facebook.com/DaemenCollegeMensBasketball) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.