AMHERST, N.Y. – Prior to this season Daemen College and Salem International University had no history in men's basketball. That changed big time this season.
 
Daemen will look to complete a season-series sweep of SIU this weekend when the Wildcats travel to West Virginia for the third meeting between the two schools. The Saturday matinee tips off at 4 p.m.
 
Live streaming video and live stats are available for the game.

Daemen raced past the Tigers 113-90 two weeks ago at Lumsden Gymnasium in a physical and face-paced game that saw the teams get whistled for a combined 54 fouls and take a combined 70 free throws. Senior Jim Regan (Williamsville, N.Y./Nichols) came up big in the final home game of his career with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Daemen also 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. Junior Casey Sheehan (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) led the way with 25 points, while classmate Kadeem Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) added 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
 
Daemen (23-5) has been clicking on all cylinders lately. The Wildcats have won 12 of their last 13 games while averaging an impressive 94 points a game during that stretch. Daemen has recorded 20 wins for the second-straight year (and the seventh time in the past 11 years) and stands one win shy of tying the school-record for wins in a season set in 1999-00 and 2003-04.
 
The Wildcats have been ranked third in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division I poll the last two weeks. Daemen closes out the regular-season Feb. 13 at Point Park University and is expected to earn a bid to the eight-team USCAA National Championship Tournament, which is set to take place Feb. 26 – March 2 in Uniontown, Pa.
 
Coach Don Silveri's balanced attack features five players averaging in double figures.
 
Regan has come up with some huge efforts in recent games. He has scored at least 21 points in each of the last five games and scored a career-high 31 points in a recent win over Maine-Presque Isle. He is averaging 13.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7 forward has totaled 1,181 points, 544 rebounds and 114 blocks over his career, and stands just 19 points shy of becoming just the second player in program history to total 1,200 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks. 1999 graduate Brian Pettit is currently the only player to reach each of those three milestones.
 
Sheehan and sophomore forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) have produced as well. Sheehan has averaged 16.8 points and 6.2 assists over the past five games and scored 21 points in a 97-79 win over Niagara College (Ont.) last weekend. He leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg) and steals (54) and ranks second in three-pointers (35) and assists (4.5 apg). He has averaged 12 points a game over his career and stands just 36 points shy of 1,000 career points. Beverly recorded his tenth double-double of the year (18 pts, 10 rebs) in the win over Niagara and is averaging 14.6 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds. He has also totaled a team-high 46 blocks and stands just four blocks shy of 100 for his two-year career.
 
Junior point guard Mark Coppola (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) registered his fourth double-digit assist effort of the year during the win over Niagara and has dished out seven or more assists 13 times this season. He is averaging 5.8 points, leads the team in assists per game (6.7) and ranks second in steals (46). His 11 assists against Niagara moved Coppola into second place among the program's all-time leaders with 446 career assists. 1992 graduate Rob Robinson tops the list with 503 career assists.
 
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 15 of the last 16 games and is shooting 44-percent (56-127) from behind the arc on the year. He scored 19 points in the win over SIU two weeks ago and is averaging 12.8 points over the past 11 games. Also in the frontcourt, Johnson is shooting a team-high 63-percent (91-144) from the field and is averaging 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds. He canned 7-of-9 shots and netted 16 points in a recent win over Fisher College.
 
Junior Uchechi Ogbonna (Hicksville, N.Y./Erie CC) played 20 minutes and scored 11 points in a recent win over Maine-Fort Kent and is averaging 7.4 points off the bench. Sophomore Aaron Davis (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) scored 11 points in 11 minutes in the win over SIU two weeks ago and has averaged 8.3 points over his past eight games.  Davis missed the team's game last weekend in Canada with an injury and his status for Saturday is still up in the air.
 
Salem International is a NCAA Division II independent. The Tigers (9-14) have struggled down the stretch and enter Saturday's game having dropped eight of their last 10 games. SIU has lost five-straight games and is coming off a 90-87 loss to Rio Grande earlier this week. Senior guard Kenneth McCornell scored 21 points in the loss to Rio Grande and is averaging a team-high 11.5 points. Additional production has come from senior guards Kam'Mar LaBrew (10.8 ppg, 4.2 apg) and Raymar Porter (9.4 ppg, 39 stls) and senior forward Juanito Moises (8.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg). The Tigers are averaging nine three-point field goals and 75.8 points per game.
 
Daemen, which is transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II, is 5-3 against NCAA Division II opponents this season. The Wildcats could easily be 7-1 against D2 teams were it not for a one-point loss to Molloy College and a two-point setback to Newberry College.