THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team hosts Dominican College in a non-conference game Sunday (Nov. 30)…it marks the first of three-straight home games for the Wildcats.
THE LEAD, PART II: Sunday's game will feature two of the top power forwards in the region in Daemen's Gerald Beverly and Dominican's Nick Smith…Beverly was a first-team All-ECC selection last year and was also named the ECC Defensive Player of the Year…he was honored as the ECC Preseason Co-Player of the Year prior to this season and enters Sunday's game averaging 16.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game…Smith was a first-team CACC all-conference and second-team NABC all-region selection last year after averaging 21.9 points and enters Sunday's game averaging a CACC-best 27.0 points per game...Beverly was profiled in The Buffalo News earlier this week.
Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014
Dominican at Daemen - 2 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / DC ROSTER / DC STATS
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 259-227 (.533 winning percentage)…Joe Clinton is in his 24th season as head men's basketball coach at Dominican and entered the 2014-15 season with a career coaching record of 348-328 (.512)…a three-time CACC Coach of the Year selection, he has guided the Chargers to one (2013) NCAA Division II Tournament appearance and two (2000, 2001) NAIA Division II Tournament appearances.
MOVE TO II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Three of the NCAA Division II membership process…Daemen was 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 28-10 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.
THE HISTORY: Sunday's game will mark just the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Dominican…the teams met for the first time ever last year at Dominican and the Chargers posted a 98-93 victory in overtime…the game featured 17 ties and 13 lead changes…the Wildcats appeared to have the game won when Casey Sheehan gave the visitors an 86-84 lead with just :02 seconds left…after a Dominican timeout, the Chargers inbounded the ball under Daemen's basket…Nick Smith took the inbounds pass at midcourt and fired a strike to AJ Burton who layed the ball in as time expired to force OT…the Chargers scored the first five points of overtime en route to the 98-93 victory…Sheehan finished with 28 points and seven assists for Daemen, while Gerald Beverly totaled 22 points and 14 rebounds…Nick Smith led the Chargers with 27 points, while Justin Turner added 25 points and 10 rebounds.
THE WILDCATS (2-2; 0-0 ECC): 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…the Wildcats opened the season with home wins over Concordia (85-50) and Post (88-80) during the Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge two weeks ago…Daemen is coming off back-to-back road losses at Holy Family (68-59) and Mercyhurst (90-84 OT)…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 led the team in scoring (18.9 ppg), rebounding (10.0 rpg) and blocks (111) last year…he was named MVP of the Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge for the second-straight year and once again leads the team in scoring (16.5 ppg), rebounding (8.8 rpg) and blocks (11)…he recorded his 29th career double-double (10 pts, 11 rebs) in the loss to Mercyhurst…senior sharpshooter Jordan Greene also returns after averaging 10.5 points with a team-high 52 three-pointers last year…he drained four three-pointers and totaled 18 points in the win over Post and netted 15 points in the loss to HFU…junior guard Supreme Hannah has stepped into the starting lineup at point guard…he played 34 minutes and scored a career-high 18 points in the loss to Mercyhurst…junior transfers Torrence Dyck, Jr. and Arif Mehmetaj and freshman Nick Petrucelli have made immediate contributions…Dyck scored 22 points in the win over Post and netted a career-high 29 points in the loss to Mercyhurst…he ranks second on the team in both scoring (16.3 ppg) and assists (10)…Mehmetaj was named to the all-tournament team following the Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge after totaling 20 points and a team-high 21 rebounds over the two games…he is averaging 8.3 points and 8.7 rebounds…Petrucelli played 17 minutes in the season-opening win over Concordia and contributed 10 points, six boards and three assists…sophomore Alex Borges played 21 minutes and established career-highs for points (14) and rebounds (5) in the win over Concordia…senior Kyle Clifford scored 13 points in 13 minutes in the season-opening win…senior Aaron Davis made his fifth career start in the loss to Mercyhurst…he played 34 minutes and totaled nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
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 last week…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 as contributed with three three-points, 11 points and a team-high seven assists…click HERE for a complete recap of the game.
THE CHARGERS (2-2; 2-0 CACC): Dominican is located on Orangeburg, N.Y. and is a member of the NCAA Division II Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC)…Dominican returns eight players and three starters from last year's team that finished 18-10 overall (14-5 CACC) and advanced to the CACC Tournament…DC was voted second in the 2014-15 CACC North preseason poll…the Chargers opened the year with non-conference losses to Stonehill (72-67) and Assumption (77-63), before posting league wins over Post (73-66) and Concordia (76-62) this past week…senior Nick Smith tops the list of returning players after averaging 21.9 points and earning first-team All-CACC honors last year…the 6-foot-7, 240 pound forward poured in 36 points in the win over Post and is averaging 27.0 points and 6.0 rebounds…junior guard Joe Clinton and sophomore guard Christopher Hargraves have also produced…Clinton had 18 points in the loss to Assumption and is averaging 10.8 points and 4.8 assists…Hargraves had 12 points, four steals and three assists in the win over Post and is averaging 9.0 points off the bench…junior swingman Jared Fay has contributed in his first year with the Chargers after transferring from Division I Fordham…he totaled nine points and nine rebounds in the win over Concordia and is averaging 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds…junior guard Sean O'Reilly drained three three-pointers and scored 12 points in the loss to Assumption.
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 extended its home winning streak to 37-straight games (dating back to the start of the 2011-12 season) after posting wins over Concordia and Post during the Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge…Daemen's home winning streak ranks as the second longest in the nation among all NCAA men's basketball programs…only Division III Albertus Magnus College (42) owns a longer home winning streak than Daemen…the top five home winning streaks among NCAA men's basketball programs as of games played Nov. 28 included Albertus Magnus (42), Daemen (37), Duke (36), Amherst (31), Gonzaga (29), Central Missouri (29), Drury (29) and Centre (29)…the Wildcats have gone 38-1 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season and have won 82-percent (94-21) 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 37-straight games (and 46 of the last 47 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 Sunday's game with 1,245 career points and needs just 37 points to crack the Top-10 in career points at Daemen…he already ranks fourth in career rebounds (666) and second in career blocks (231)…he stands just three blocks shy of replacing 2006 graduate Ron Wright as the program's leader in career blocks.
GREENE NETS 800TH POINT: Senior Jordan Greene recorded his 800th career point during the recent loss at Holy Family…he has totaled 816 points in 92 career games (8.9 per game).
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: Daemen is idle until Dec. 12 when it opens East Coast Conference play by hosting Molloy College…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.
