Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 - 7:30 p.m.
Pratt Recreation Center, Brookville, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

Daemen vs. New York Tech
Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013 - 2 p.m.
Recreation Hall, Old Westbury, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College men's basketball team travels to Long Island this weekend for two ECC games…the Wildcats will tipoff against LIU Post Friday (Dec. 13) at 7:30 p.m. and complete the trip with a Sunday (Dec. 15) afternoon contest at New York Tech…Sunday's game starts at 2 p.m.

THE COACHES: Don Silveri is entering his 25th season as head men's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 397-339 (.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)…Erik Smiles is in his first season as head coach at LIU Post…he spent the past nine seasons as head coach at NCAA Division III Farmingdale State College…a three-time Skyline Conference Coach of the Year selection, he posted a 182-72 (.717) record at FSC and led the Rams to four NCAA Division III Tournament appearances (2006, 08, 09, 12)…Sal Lagano is in his 17th season at New York Tech and entered the 2013-14 season with a career record of 229-225 (.504)…he guided the Bears to a 22-9 record and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2004.

THE SERIES vs. LIU POST: Friday's game will mark the second all-time meeting between Daemen and LIU Post…the first-ever meeting came in opening round action of the LIU Post Holiday Invitational on Dec. 30, 2009…the Pioneers posted a 79-58 victory over the Wildcats…Daemen picked up a 76-54 victory over Evangel University the next day during second-round action.

THE SERIES vs. NEW YORK TECH: Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and New York Tech.

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 10-4 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.

THE WILDCATS (4-2, 1-0 ECC): 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 then ventured to California 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 Wildcats are coming off wins over Mercyhurst (69-63) and Roberts Wesleyan (77-72)…the win over RWC marked the first-ever ECC win for the Wildcats…senior guard Casey Sheehan and junior forward Gerald Beverly 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 19 points in the win over Mercyhurst and is averaging 18.0 points, 5.6 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 averaging 14.7 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks…senior point guard Mark Coppola and senior forward Kadeem Johnson 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 returned to action against RWC and totaled seven points and five assists in 30 minutes…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 against Mercyhurst after suffering a preseason injury and made his first start of the year against RWC (10 pts, 3 stls)….junior sharpshooter Jordan Greene also returns after averaging 11.3 points with a team-high 69 three-pointers last year…he totaled 19 points in the win over RWC and is averaging 12.2 points with a team-high 11 three-pointers…senior forward Uchechi Ogbonna has started the first six 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 11.3 points and 10.3 rebounds…sophomore Supreme Hannah made his first career start and played all 40 minutes in the win over GBC…he has started the last five games and is averaging 4.2 points and 2.8 assists…Daemen is shooting 43-percent from the field overall, 30-percent from three-point land and 60-percent from the charity stripe…the Wildcats are scoring 74.3 points and allowing 72.5 points per game…Daemen owns a +2.5 rebounding margin (41.2 / 38.7).

ROAD WARRIORS: Friday's game will mark the second of eight-straight road games for Daemen, which does not play at home again until Jan. 12…the Wildcats are 1-2 in road games this season, but have prevailed nine of their last 12 road/neutral site games dating back to the end of last season.

THE PIONEERS (5-3, 2-0 ECC): LIU Post returns just four players and two starters from last year's team that finished 18-9 (13-5 ECC) and advanced to the ECC Tournament…LIU was voted second in the ECC preseason poll…LIU has advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament four of the last six seasons and claimed the NCAA East Region title in 2009…the Pioneers must overcome the graduation of 2012-13 ECC Player of the Year Tobin Carberry who averaged 18.6 points with a team-high 57 three-pointers last year…senior Vaughn Allen tops the list of returning players…the 6-foot-6 forward collected first-team All-ECC honors last year after averaging 15.5 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds…the Pioneers lost three of their first four games, but enter Friday's game riding a four-game winning streak…the streak has included non-league wins over Bloomfield (92-85) and Post (67-66) and league wins over NYIT (94-58) and District of Columbia (75-62)…Vaughn leads the team in scoring (18.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg) so far this season and was named ECC Player of the Week this past Monday after totaling 39 points and 17 rebounds in the wins over NYIT and UDC last week…junior forward Tyuan Williams registered a double-double (17 pts, 11 rebs) in the win over Bloomfield and is averaging 12.8 points and 8.1 rebounds…newcomers P.J. Torres and Akosa Maduegbunam have made immediate contributions…Torres, a transfer from Division I Duquesne, had 33 points and 10 assists against Bloomfield and is averaging 16.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists…Maduegbunam, a transfer from Penn State, has started six games and is averaging 11.1 points with a team-high 14 three-pointers…LIU is shooting 42-percent from the field overall, 33-percent from three-point land and 64-percent from the charity stripe…the Pioneers are scoring 79.5 points and allowing 77.4 points per game…LIU owns a +14.1 rebounding margin (48.6 / 34.5).

THE BEARS (2-4, 0-1 ECC):  New York Tech returns seven players and one starter from last year's team that finished 19-10 (13-5 ECC) and advanced to the ECC Tournament…NYIT was voted fifth in the ECC preseason poll…the Bears must overcome the graduation of All-ECC forward Kayvon Roberts who led the team in scoring (16.2 ppg) and ranked second in rebounding (7.1 rpg) last year…senior Phil Izevbehai tops the list of returning players…the 6-foot-3 guard collected second-team All-ECC honors last year after averaging 15.0 points with a team-high 57 three-pointers…the Bears opened the year with three-straight losses before posting back-to-back wins over Concordia (111-81) and Wilmington (85-83 OT)…NYIT opened ECC play with a 94-58 loss to LIU Post on Dec. 3 and hosts Roberts Wesleyan Saturday before taking on Daemen Sunday…senior Markus Moore, who averaged just 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds last year, has recorded three double-doubles already this season and leads the team in scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg) and blocks (17)…he had a triple-double (13 pts, 17 rebs, 11 blks) in the win over Wilmington…Izevbehai had 21 points in the win over Wilmington and is averaging 13.6 points and 6.4 rebounds…junior swingman Wayne Bradford, a transfer from Division I Weber State, had 19 points in an 80-79 loss to Georgian Court and is averaging 11.8 points and a team-high 4.8 assists…additional production has come from freshman forward Kachi Nzerem (10.3 ppg) and senior guard Erick Satchell (9.0 ppg, 13 3pt fgs)…NYIT is shooting 42-percent from the field overall, 31-percent from three-point land and 56-percent from the charity stripe…the Bears are scoring 78.8 points and allowing 84.8 points per game…NYIT owns a -3.1 rebounding margin (43.2 / 46.3).

LEAGUE RANKINGS: LIU Post ranks second in the ECC in points per game (79.5), while NYIT ranks third (78.8) and Daemen ranks fifth (74.3)…LIU Post leads the league in three-pointers made (49), while NYIT ranks second (48)…Daemen ranks second in assists per game (15.2), while LIU Post ranks third (15.0) and NYIT ranks fourth (14.5)…NYIT ranks second in blocks per game (5.0), while Daemen and LIU Post are tied for fourth (4.0)…LIU Post ranks first in the league in rebound margin (+14.1), while Daemen ranks fourth (+2.5)…Daemen leads the ECC in free throws attempted per game (28.8) and ranks fifth in free throws made per game (17.3)…Casey Sheehan ranks sixth in points per game (18.0), third in assists per game (4.8) and second in steals per game (2.8)…Gerald Beverly leads the league in rebounds per game (10.8), while teammate Uchechi Ogbonna ranks second (10.3)…Beverly also ranks third in blocks per game (2.5), sixth in field goal percentage (.532) and 14th in points per game (14.7)…Ogbonna also ranks second in field goal percentage (.580)…Vaughn Allen of LIU Post ranks fourth in scoring (18.4 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (8.4 rpg)…P.J. Torres of LIU Post ranks second in assists (5.1), while Wayne Bradford of NYIT ranks third (4.8)…Marcus Moore of NYIT ranks fifth in rebounding (9.0) and second in blocks (2.8).

DID YOU KNOW?: Gerald Beverly has recorded at least one block in 11-straight games (and 20 of the last 21 games) dating back to the end of last season…Beverly has totaled 15 blocks over Daemen's first four games and has moved into third place in career blocks (124) among Daemen'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 next weekend when it travels back to the New York City area for two games…the Wildcats will play at Molloy Friday (Dec. 20) and at Queens Sunday (Dec. 22).

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.