THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team hits the road this weekend to take on St. Thomas Aquinas College (Jan. 16) and Mercy College (Jan. 17) in East Coast Conference action…Daemen enters the weekend as the only ECC team still unbeaten in league play.
Friday, Jan. 16, 2015
Daemen at St. Thomas Aquinas - 8 p.m.
Aquinas Hall, Sparkill, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / STAC ROSTER / STAC STATS
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015
Daemen at Mercy - 2:30 p.m.
Mercy Gym, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / MC ROSTER / MC STATS
STREAKING WILDCATS: Daemen enters this weekend's action riding a four-game winning streak and a 21-game conference winning streak…Daemen's last conference loss came Dec. 20, 2013 at Molloy…Daemen's conference winning streak ranks as the longest among all NCAA Division II programs.
POLL POSITION: Daemen's 10-3 start has earned the Wildcats a spot in this week's D2SIDA Division II East Region men's basketball media poll…Daemen entered the poll at No. 7…the East Region poll includes teams from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Collegiate Athletic Conference…Daemen is also ranked No. 1 in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll.
NATIONAL HONOR FOR BEVERLY: Senior forward Gerald Beverly has been named the Division II National Player of the Week by the United States Basketball Writers Association after averaging 25.3 points, 16.7 rebounds and 3.7 blocks during wins over Washington Adventist University, Dowling College and the University of Bridgeport last week.
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 267-228 (.539 winning percentage)…Tobin Anderson is in his second season as head men's basketball coach at STAC…before coming to STAC he spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Siena College and also previously served as head coach at Clarkson (1999-04) and Hamilton (2004-11)…Dr. Jody King is in his first season as head men's basketball coach at Mercy…he previously served as head coach at Hostos Community College and SUNY Maritime.
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 34-11 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.
THE SERIES vs. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Friday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas…the Wildcats suffered a 55-53 loss to the Spartans in the first-ever meeting on Jan. 28, 2000…Daemen swept the season series last year…the Wildcats posted a 79-75 victory at STAC…Daemen led by 13 points at halftime, but the Spartans opened the second half with a 13-6 run that cut the lead to six points…STAC trailed by just one point, 74-73, with a half minute to play, but Daemen secured the win by hitting 5-of-6 three throws down the stretch…Gerald Beverly totaled 25 points, six rebounds and eight blocks for Daemen, while Aaron Cust scored 26 points for STAC…Daemen completed the sweep with a 69-65 victory at Lumsden Gym…Daemen led by double digits most of the second half, before the Spartans rallied and cut the lead to two points, 64-62, with just under a minute left…Daemen secured the win by hitting 5-of-6 free throws...Beverly came one block away from a triple-double, as he totaled 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks…Marcus Henderson scored 20 points for STAC, while Omar Kellman added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
THE SERIES vs. MERCY: Saturday's game will mark the third all-time meeting between Daemen and Mercy…Daemen swept the season series last year…the Wildcats prevailed in the first-ever meeting, 99-92, at Mercy…Daemen led by 19 points (78-59) with just over eight minutes to play before the Mavericks put together a 22-10 run and cut the lead to seven points with just under three minutes left…Daemen scored the next four points and secured the win by hitting 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch…six players scored in double figures for Daemen…Gerald Beverly led the way with 18 points, seven rebounds and 11 blocks…five players scored in double figures for STAC…Kirk Bailey (25 pts, 10 rebs) and Olajide Keshinro (24 pts, 14 rebs, 6 blks) led the way for the Mavericks…Daemen completed the sweep with an 82-68 win at Lumsden Gym…the hosts led by as many as 34 points in the second half…Casey Sheehan (16 pts) and Beverly (14 puts, 9 rebs, 4 blks) paced a balanced Daemen attack…Keshinro totaled 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks.
THE WILDCATS (10-3; 5-0 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 have won eight of their last 10 games and are coming off wins over Dowling (89-88) and Bridgeport (91-88 OT) this past weekend…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 has recorded nine double-doubles this year and registered his first career triple double (17 pts, 17 rebs, 12 blks) during a 91-75 win over St. Thomas (Fla.)…he leads the team in scoring (19.4 ppg) and leads the ECC in rebounding (12.7 rpg), field goal percentage (.582) and blocks (55)…senior Jordan Greene also returns after averaging 10.5 points with a team-high 52 three-pointers last year…he scored a season-high 19 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists in the OT win over Bridgeport and is averaging 10.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists with 24 three-pointers…junior guard Supreme Hannah has stepped into the starting lineup at point guard…he is shooting 53-percent from three-point land (20-for-38) and is averaging 10.3 points and 3.4 assists…he went 5-for-6 from downtown and scored a career-high 22 points in a 93-75 win over Queens…junior transfers Torrence Dyck, Jr. and Arif Mehmetaj and freshman Nick Petrucelli have made immediate contributions…Dyck has scored over 20 points in eight of DC's 13 games and scored a season-high 30 points in the win over UDC…he is averaging 18.8 points and 4.9 rebounds…Mehmetaj was named to the all-tournament team following the season-opening Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge but has missed the last 10 games due to injury…Petrucelli played 44 minutes and contributed eight points and five assists against Bridgeport…senior Kyle Clifford has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games and scored a career-high 18 points against Dowling…he is averaging 8.4 points with 22 three-pointers…senior Aaron Davis contributed eight points in a win over Washington Adventist, while sophomore Alex Borges netted 10 points in just 12 minutes off the bench against WAU.
THE SPARTANS (7-8; 4-2 ECC): St. Thomas Aquinas returns seven players and three starters from last year's team that finished 15-14 overall (9-11 ECC) and advanced to the championship game of the ECC Tournament…STAC was voted fourth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Spartans have lost three of their last four games and are coming off a 68-62 OT loss at LIU Post this past Saturday…sophomore guard Chaz Watler has paced the Spartans this season after earning ECC Rookie of the Year honors last winter…he scored 27 points in an 82-69 win over New York Tech last weekend and is averaging 14.1 points…senior guard Marcus Henderson collected honorable mention All-ECC honors last year and is averaging 10.6 points and 3.4 assists with a team-high 28 three-pointers this year…additional production has come from freshmen Justin Reyes (10.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Shaquille McFarlan (7.9 ppg)…Reyes had 18 points and eight rebounds in the win over NYIT last week.
THE MAVERICKS (6-5; 1-4 ECC): Mercy returns just three players and no starters from last year's team that finished 3-23 (3-17 ECC)…Mercy's 15-man roster features nine junior college transfers…Mercy was voted 11th in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Mavericks had a three-game winning streak snapped following an 85-69 loss at New York Tech last weekend…Mercy hosts Roberts Wesleyan Friday before facing Daemen Saturday…junior college transfers Tyseem Lyles, Jeremiah Brown and Gerald McClease have led the way thus far…Lyles started the first eight games but has missed the last three games…he had a season-high 27 points in an early-season win over Georgian Court and is averaging 18.1 points with a team-high 24 three-pointers…Brown (13.4 ppg, 19 3pt fgs) has started all 11 games and scored a season-high 21 points in the loss to NYIT last weekend…McClease (10.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg) has also started all 11 games and totaled 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists in an early-season win over Salem International…additional production has come from junior college transfers Jason Quijada (11.7 ppg, 7.3 apg) and Lazaro Martinez (9.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg).
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—a streak that has now reached a Division-II best 21-straight league wins.
20/20: Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau in each of that last three seasons (and eight times over the past 12 seasons).
ECC HONOR ROLL: Gerald Beverly has been honored as the ECC Player of the Week three of the last four weeks and is also a two-time selection to the weekly ECC honor roll…Torrence Dyck, Jr. is a one-time selection to the weekly ECC honor roll.
BEVERLY'S BLOCK PARTY: Gerald Beverly has recorded at least one block in 54 of the last 56 games dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season…he had a streak of 41-straight games with at least one block snapped during a win over District of Columbia on Jan. 3…he tied the ECC record for blocks in a game (12) during DC's win over St. Thomas (Fla.) on Dec. 17 and currently leads all Division II players in blocks per game (4.23)…he recently replaced 2006 graduate Ron Wright as Daemen's leader in career blocks and enters this weekend's action with 275 blocks in 102 career games (2.7 per game)…he is on pace to become just the third player in ECC history to record 300 career blocks.
MORE BEVERLY: Gerald Beverly has scored in double figures in 43-straight games and recorded his 36th career double-double during Daemen's win over Bridgeport this past Saturday…he registered his first career triple-double (17 pts, 17 rebs, 12 blks) during Daemen's win over St. Thomas (Fla.) on Dec. 17…Beverly has already become the first player in program history to total 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks in a career…he enters this weekend's action ranked seventh in career points (1,431), fourth in career rebounds (796) and first in career blocks (275) among Daemen's all-time leaders.
GREENE HITS 150 TRIPLES: Senior Jordan Greene drilled four three-pointers during last Saturday's win over Bridgeport and in the process recorded his 150th career triple…he has become just the fifth player in program history to reach 150 career three-pointers.
JUNIOR MINTS: Juniors Supreme Hannah and Torrence Dyck, Jr. have played a big role in Daemen's early success…Hannah, who averaged just 3.3 points a game over his freshman and sophomore seasons is enjoying a breakout season…he has scored in double figures five times this season and is averaging 10.3 points…he is averaging 3.4 assists and leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (20-38/.526)…Dyck, a junior college transfer, has started all 13 games and ranks second on the team in scoring (18.8 ppg)…he has scored at least 20 points eight times and netted a season-high 30 points in a 95-72 win at UDC.
STEPPING UP: Senior Kyle Clifford and freshman Nick Petrucelli have stepped up in recent games…Clifford has shot 50-percent (9-18) from downtown and has averaged 14.6 points over the past three games and scored a career-high 18 points in last Friday's win over Dowling…Petrucelli made his first career start during last Saturday's win over Bridgeport and contributed 44 minutes, eight points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block...Petrucelli also played 26 minutes and canned the game-winning free throw with 1.6 seconds left in Daemen's 89-88 win over Dowling.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 40-2 since the start of the 2009-10 season when it scores 90 or more points.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action Tuesday (Jan. 20) when it hosts long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an ECC game…it will mark the first of three home games next week, as the Wildcats also host LIU Post (Jan. 23) and New York Tech (Jan. 24) next weekend…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.
