THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team opens the 2014-15 season by hosting the Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge…the tournament will feature two teams from the East Coast Conference (ECC) and two teams from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC)…it gets underway with Roberts Wesleyan College of the ECC taking on Post University of the CACC Friday at 6 p.m., followed by Daemen of the ECC vs. Concordia College of the CACC at 8 p.m…the tournament wraps up Saturday with Roberts Wesleyan vs. Concordia at 2 p.m., followed by Daemen vs. Post at 4 p.m…general admission is $5 per day ($3 for senior citizens and visiting students with ID)…Daemen students, staff and faculty, along with children under 12 will be admitted free of charge.
2014 Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge
Friday, November 14
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Roberts Wesleyan vs. Post, 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
Concordia vs. Daemen, 8 p.m.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
Saturday, November 15
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Roberts Wesleyan vs. Concordia, 2 p.m.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
Post vs. Daemen, 4 p.m.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
THE COACHES: Mike MacDonald is entering his first season as head men's basketball coach at Daemen College after spending the past eight years at Medaille College where he transformed the program into a regional contender at the NCAA Division III level…inheriting a program that went 4-46 in the two years prior to his arrival, MacDonald's version of the Mavericks averaged 18 wins a season, while advancing to the postseason six times…Medaille's emergence as a Division III power in the Northeast was cemented in the last five seasons, as MacDonald led the Mavericks to more wins (101) than any other Division III team in New York State, while ranking 17th nationally in wins during the same time frame…MacDonald was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year on four occasions (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2011-12)…he left Medaille as the school's all-time leader in wins (149) and winning percentage (.671)…prior to his stint at Medaille, MacDonald served as the head coach at Canisius College from 1997-2006, guiding the Golden Griffins to 108 wins which ranks him third in program history for coaching victories…in 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, MacDonald has achieved a record of 257-225 (.533 winning percentage)…Brian Sondey is entering his fifth season as head men's basketball coach at Concordia…he has led the Clippers a 40-67 record over the previous four seasons…Al Sokaitis is also entering his fifth season as head men's basketball at Post…he has led the Eagles to a 56-54 record over the past four seasons and Post has qualified for the CACC Tournament each of the previous four years…Sokaitis has more than 20 years of collegiate-level coaching experience and has served as a private instructor for NBA players…in addition, he has served as the head coach of the Tanzanian National Basketball team since 2012…Rob McCoy is in his 14th season as head coach at Roberts Wesleyan…he has led the Redhawks to two three (2006, 2011, 2014) semifinal appearances in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Tournament.
MOVE TO II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Three of the NCAA Division II membership process…Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and began playing full regular-season conference schedules in the fall of 2013…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 Three.
DAEMEN vs. NCAA DIVISION II OPPONENTS: The Wildcats went 20-5 against NCAA Division II opponents last season and are 26-8 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.
THE WILDCATS: Daemen returns eight players and just one starter from last year's team that posted a 21-7 overall record and claimed the East Coast Conference regular-season championship (17-3) in its first season as a league member…Daemen was voted third in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Wildcats earned a bid to the USCAA Championship Tournament for the second-straight year last year and suffered a 58-57 loss to eventual champion Washington Adventist in the semifinals…first-year head coach Mike MacDonald must overcome the graduation of senior guards Casey Sheehan and Mark Coppola…Sheehan averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists last year and collected first-team All-ECC honors…Coppola was a three-year starter at point guard and closed out his career with a school-record 623 assists…senior forward Gerald Beverly tops the list of returning players…the 2013-14 ECC Defensive Player of the Year and 2014-15 ECC Co-Preseason Player of the Year, Beverly established himself as one of the most dominant front court players in the region last year after leading the team in scoring (18.9 ppg), rebounding (10.0 rpg) and blocks (111)…senior sharpshooter Jordan Greene also returns after averaging 10.5 points with a team-high 52 three-pointers…senior Aaron Davis returns after averaging 13.8 minutes and 5.3 points off the bench last winter…junior transfers Torrence Dyck, Jr. and Arif Mehmetaj and freshman Nick Petrucelli are expected to make immediate contributions…Dyck collected second-team all-state honors following his senior year at East High School in Rochester and played at San Jacinto College last year…Mehmetaj played two seasons at SUNY Delhi and was named Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year last winter after averaging 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds…Petrucelli is a 2013 graduate of Hicksville (N.Y.) High School and spent last year at Thomasville Prep in North Carolina…he earned all-county honors following his senior year at Hicksville High and averaged 18 points a game at Thomasville last year.
HISTORIC WIN OVER CANISIUS: Daemen kicked off the 2014-15 season in historic fashion with an 83-81 (OT) win over Canisius College in an exhibition game this past Tuesday…it marked the program's first-ever win against an opponent from the NCAA Division I level….Rochester-natives Torrence Dyck and Gerald Beverly led the way for Daemen…Dyck, a newcomer, totaled 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting…Beverly, the Co-Preseason Player of the Year in the ECC, rang up 20 points, nine rebounds and four blocks…Jordan Greene also contributed with three three-pointers, 11 points and a team-high seven assists…click HERE for a complete recap of the game.
THE CLIPPERS: Concordia is located in Bronxville, N.Y. and was voted seventh in the 2014-15 CACC North preseason poll…Daemen and Concorida will be meeting for the first time ever Friday night…the Clippers return nine players and four starters from last year's team that finished 5-21 (5-14 CACC)…Concordia must overcome the graduation of All-CACC guard Norman Pope who averaged 20.5 points with a team-high 53 three-pointers last year…junior guard Jamie Holder and sophomore guard Andrew Peacock top the list of returning players…Holder averaged 10.2 points and 2.7 assists last year, while Peacock averaged 9.3 points with 30 three-pointers…senior forward Tshyrad Oates, sophomore center Rome Jenkins and sophomore guard Jalen Heath also return…Oates averaged 7.8 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds last year, while Jenkins contributed 6.3 points and 3.8 rebounds as a rookie…Heath played in all 26 games as a rookie last year and averaged 5.9 points and 5.5 rebounds with a team-high 34 steals…6-foot-8 forward Mohamed Abass returns to the team after sitting out the last two seasons…he played in 19 games as a freshman in 2011-12.
THE EAGLES: Post is located in Waterbury, Conn. and was voted fifth in the 2014-15 CACC North preseason poll…Daemen and Post will be meeting for the first time ever Saturday…the Eagles return just one player and no starters from last year's team that finished 11-16 overall and 11-8 in the CACC…Post must overcome the graduation of All-CACC guard Derrick Strong who led the team in scoring (13.3 ppg) and steals (64) last year…Post's 13-player roster features five transfers and six freshmen…transfer Nardie Bogues, the nephew of former NBA player Muggsy Bogues, played at NCAA Division II Rockburst University last year and averaged 5.1 points and a team-high 3.5 assists per game…junior college transfers Brandt Voiles, David Seymour, Shannon McCready and Nick Lawson are expected to make immediate impacts…Voiles helped Rock Valley College to a NJCAA Division III national championship last year, as he averaged 6.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and a team-high 2.9 assists…Seymour averaged 9.2 points and 5.4 rebounds at Dean College last year and helped the Bulldogs to a NJCAA Division II Region XXI championship…McCready averaged 4.6 points and 5.3 rebounds at Garrett College last year and helped the Lakers to a NJCAA Division II Region XX championship…Lawson played at Gloucester County College last year and led the team in scoring and three-pointers.
THE REDHAWKS: Roberts Wesleyan is located in Rochester, N.Y. and was voted 10th in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…RWC successfully completed its transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II this past summer and is in its first season as an official NCAA Division II member school…the Redhawks return nine players and three starters from last year's team that finished 13-16 (8-12 ECC)…RWC suffered an 84-66 loss to Niagara in an exhibition game on Nov. 3…senior forward Isaac Medeiros and junior swingman Tyrel Dixon top the list of returning players…Medeiros collected honoralble mention All-ECC honors last year after averaging a team-high 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds…Dixon, an ECC All-Rookie team selection two years ago, averaged a steady 11.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists last year…senior guard Mike Stone is back after sitting out the 2013-14 season with a knee injury…he drained a team-high 64 three-pointers and averaged 11.4 points two years ago…junior college transfer Marcus Gooding is expected to step into the starting lineup…he shot 48-percent from three-point land at Monroe Community College last year and scored a team-high 17 points (5-of-11 three-pointers) in the exhibition loss to Niagara.
CONFERENCE CHAMPS: Daemen claimed the East Coast Conference regular-season championship last year in its first season of eligibility after posting a 17-3 league mark…the Wildcats, who were voted seventh out of 11 teams in the 2013-14 ECC preseason poll, closed out the regular-season by winning 16 consecutive league games.
HOME SWEET HOME: Daemen takes a 35-game home winning streak into the 2014-15 season…Daemen's home winning streak ranks as the longest among all men's Division II teams and the second longest in the nation among NCAA men's basketball programs—behind Division III Albertus Magnus (41)…the Wildcats have gone 36-1 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season and have won 82-percent (92-21) of their home games over the past nine seasons.
MORE STREAKS: Daemen posted a school-record 14-game winning streak last year and will enter the 2014-15 season riding a 16-game conference winning streak.
20/20: Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau in each of that last three seasons (and eight times over the past 12 seasons).
BEVERLY'S BLOCK PARTY: Gerald Beverly has recorded at least one block in 33-straight games (and 42 of the last 43 games) dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season…he has already become the first player in program history to total 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks in a career…he enters the 2014-15 season with 1,179 career points…he already ranks fourth in career rebounds (631) and second in career blocks (220) at Daemen.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen was 11-1 last season and is 37-2 since the start of the 2009-10 season when it scores 90 or more points.
WHAT'S NEXT: Damen begins a busy stretch of three games in the span of nine days when it travels to Holy Family University in Philadelphia Pa. on Nov. 22…the Wildcats will then travel to Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa. on Nov. 25, before hosting Dominican College Nov. 30…Daemen's complete 2014-15 schedule can be accessed HERE.
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.
