Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014 - 8 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

THE MATCHUP: The Daemen College men's basketball team hosts rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference game Tuesday (Nov.28) at 8 p.m…Daemen has won eight-straight league games and is currently in third place in the ECC standings…RWC is in seventh.

MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION GAME: All proceeds from ticket sales and a 50-50 raffle on Tuesday will be donated to Make-A-Wish…the event is sponsored by Daemen's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which conducts several community service projects throughout the year…since 2003, NCAA Division II has been a national sponsor of Make-A-Wish, raising over $2.4 million to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions…student-athletes, coaches, administrators, parents and fans are serving their communities and wish kids through their heartfelt fundraising efforts…together they have helped to grant more than 338 wishes.

THE COACHES: Don Silveri is in his 25th season as head men's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 405-343 (.541) record during his time with the Wildcats...his Daemen record boasts eight 20-win seasons, including four consecutive from 2002-06 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.

SILVERI NOTCHES 400TH WIN: Daemen head coach Don Silveri recorded his 400th victory as Daemen head coach following DC's 99-92 win at Mercy on Jan 6.

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 18-8 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.

USCAA RANKINGS: Daemen is ranked No. 1 in the USCAA Division 1 poll released this past Friday…it is the second-straight week Daemen has held the top spot…eight teams will be selected to participate in the USCAA Championship Tournament, which will take place March 5-8 in Uniontown, Pa…Daemen advanced to the USCAA Tournament championship game last winter.

THE SERIES: Tuesday's game will mark the 37th all-time meeting between the two former American Mideast Conference (AMC) rivals…Daemen has prevailed in the last five meetings and owns a 25-11 advantage in the all-time series…the teams met earlier this year at RWC and the Wildcats earned a 77-72 win in overtime…it marked the first-ever ECC win for Daemen…Daemen led by 10 with just over five minutes left in regulation, but the Redhawks outscored the Wildcats 18-8 down the stretch to force OT…Daemen scored nine of the first 10 points in OT to secure the win…Jordan Greene scored a team-high 19 points off the bench for Daemen, while Gerald Beverly added 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks…Isaac Medeiros (23 pts, 18 rebs) and Tyrel Dixon 15 pts, 16 rebs) paced the Redhawks…the teams met once last year and the Wildcats posted a 73-67 victory in Rochester…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 11 players and four starters from last year's team that set a program-record for wins in a season (27) and advanced to the championship game of the USCAA Tournament…the Wildcats are undefeated in their last eight ECC games…Daemen is coming off home wins over STAC (69-65) and Mercy (82-68) this past weekend…Daemen has won eight of its last nine games and has averaged 86.4 points over that stretch…ECC wins have come over Roberts Wesleyan (77-72 OT), Queens (90-77), STAC (79-75, 69-65), Mercy (99-92, 82-68), District of Columbia (97-42), Dowling (79-72 OT) and Bridgeport (90-79)…ECC losses have come against LIU Post (93-85), New York Tech (84-79) and Molloy (78-69)…junior forward Gerald Beverly and senior guard Casey Sheehan have paced an offense that is averaging 80.9 points a game…Beverly has scored in double figures in all 18 games and has recorded a league-best 10 double-doubles…a two-time ECC Player of the Week selection, he is averaging 17.7 points and leads the ECC in rebounding (10.1 rpg) and blocks (3.8 bpg…Sheehan scored a season-high 28 points and also dished out seven assists in a 98-93 OT loss to Dominican…he ranks second on the team in scoring (14.5 ppg) and assists (4.7 apg) and leads the team in steals (31)…senior forward Uchechi Ogbonna has started all 18 games and is averaging 12.4 points and 8.7 rebounds…he has recorded five double-doubles and equaled his career-high for points (20) and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win over Queens…senior point guard Mark Coppola equaled his season-high for assists (10) in Sunday's win over Mercy and leads the league in both assists per game (5.9) and assist/turnover ratio (2.6)…senior forward Kadeem Johnson grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds in Friday's win over STAC and is averaging 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds….junior sharpshooter Jordan Greene is averaging 11.4 points with a team-high 34 three-pointers…he canned five three-pointers and equaled his career-high for points (28) in the win at Dowling…junior Aaron Davis (5.6 ppg) has scored in double figures in four of the last five games and scored a season-high 12 points in the wins over UDC and Bridgeport…sophomore guard Supreme Hannah equaled his career-high for points (13) in the win over UDC, while senior Kyle Clifford went 4-for-5 from three-point land and scored a career-high 16 points in the win over Bridgeport…Daemen is shooting 45-percent from the field overall, 31-percent from three-point land and 67-percent from the charity stripe…the Wildcats are scoring 80.9 points and allowing 75.4 points per game…Daemen owns a +2.5 rebounding margin (41.2 / 38.7).

COPPOLA SETS CAREER ASSIST RECORD: Senior point guard Mark Coppola has established a new school-record for most career assists…he entered this season ranked second in career assists behind Rob Robinson, who totaled 503 assists from 1988-92…Coppola broke the record during the win over Mercy on Jan. 6 and enters Tuesday's action with 552 assists in 100 career games (5.5 per game)…he leads the conference in assists per game (5.9) this season and has totaled 44 assists and just 11 turnovers over the last six games…he tied the school-record for assists in a season (203) last year.

HOME SWEET HOME: Daemen was undefeated at Lumsden Gym last year (12-0) and takes a 28-game home winning streak into Tuesday's action…the Wildcats have gone 29-1 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season and have won 80-percent (85-21) of their home games over the past eight seasons…Daemen will play seven of its final eight games in the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium.

THE REDHAWKS: Roberts Wesleyan 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…the Redhawks went 7-5 over their first 12 games, but have dropped three of their last four…RWC defeated Mercy (56-52) and lost to St. Thomas Aquinas (68-62) this past weekend…ECC wins have come over NYIT (69-68), Queens (70-63), UDC (84-52) and Mercy (56-52)…ECC losses have come against Daemen (77-72 OT), LIU Post (78-66), Molloy (94-83), Bridgeport (72-68), Dowling (84-67) and STAC (68-62)…junior guard Mike Stone, who drained a team-high 64 three-pointers and averaged 11.4 points last year, has missed the entire season due to injury…sophomore swingman Tyrel Dixon, who was named to the ECC All-Rookie team last year, tops the list of returning players…he is averaging 10.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists this season and totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Mercy…newcomer Isaac Medeiros has made an immediate impact…he had 24 points and 13 rebounds in the loss to Bridgeport and leads the team in scoring (17.5 ppg), rebounding (9.7 rpg) and blocks (23)…senior forward Patrick Downer (13.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and sophomore guard William Bromirski (41 3pt fgs, 11.1 ppg) have also produced…Downer netted 18 points in the loss to STAC this past weekend, while Bromski netted 23 points in the loss to LIU Post…RWC is shooting 42-percent from the field overall, 35-percent from three-point land and 66-percent from the charity stripe…the Redhawks are scoring 68.9 points and allowing 70.1 points per game…RWC owns a +1.2 rebounding margin (37.8 / 36.6).

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE: Tuesday's game pits the third highest scoring offense in the ECC against the second stingiest defense…Daemen has scored 90 or more points six times and ranks third in points per game (80.9)…RWC has allowed only three teams to score over 80 points this season and ranks second in fewest points allowed per game (70.1).

ECC RANKINGS: Here is how the teams rank among ECC teams in several statistical categories.

LEAGUE LEADERS: Here is how players from the two teams rank among the ECC leaders…Gerald Beverly leads the league in rebounding (10.1), blocks (3.8) and double-doubles (10)…he also ranks fifth in field goal percentage (53.2) and seventh in scoring (17.7)…Casey Sheehan ranks 13th in points per game (14.5), third in assists per game (4.7) and sixth in steals per game (1.8)…Uchechi Ogbonna ranks second in field goal percentage (55.3), sixth in rebounding (8.7) and 18th in scoring (12.4)…Mark Coppola leads the league in both assists per game (5.9) and assist/turnover ratio (2.6)…he also ranks sixth in steals (1.8)…Jordan Greene ranks fourth in three-point field goals made (34) and ninth in free throw percentage (75.0)…Isaac Mederios of RWC ranks eighth in scoring (17.5), third in rebounding (9.7), fifth in blocks (1.5) and ninth in field goal percentage (52.1)…Tyrel Dixon ranks fourth in minutes (34.2), eighth in steals (1.7) and 13th in rebounding (7.6)…William Bromski leads the league in three-pointers made (41) and ranks sixth in three-point field goal percentage (39.8)…Patrick Downer ranks 16th in scoring (13.2).

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 5-1 this season and 31-2 since the start of the 2009-10 season when it scores 90 or more points…Daemen had won 13-straight games when scoring at least 90 points before suffering its 98-93 OT loss at Dominican on Jan. 7…Gerald Beverly has recorded at least one block in 23-straight games (and 32 of the last 33 games) dating back to the end of last season…Beverly has totaled 50 blocks over the last 10 games and swatted a career-high 11 shots during DC's win at Mercy on Jan. 6…he already ranks second in career blocks (177) among Daemen's all-time leaders…Beverly recorded his 900th career point during the win over UDC and stands just 31 points shy of 1,000 for his career…Casey Sheehan scored his 1,300th career point during Sunday's win over Mercy and currently ranks ninth in career points (1,304), fourth in career assists (425) and third in career steals (170).

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action this weekend when it hosts LIU Post (Jan. 31) and New York Tech (Feb. 2) in ECC games.

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.