THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team heads to the nation's capital for two games this weekend…the Wildcats will play an East Coast Conference game at the University of District of Columbia Saturday (Jan. 3) and take on Washington Adventist University Monday (Jan. 5) in a non-league tilt.
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015
Daemen at District of Columbia - 1 p.m.
UDC Sports Complex, Washington, D.C.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / UDC ROSTER / UDC STATS
Monday, Jan. 5, 2015
Daemen at Washington Adventist - 6 p.m.
WAU Gymnasium, Takoma Park, Md.
WAU ROSTER / WAU 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 263-228 (.536 winning percentage)…Mike Riley is in his second season as head men's basketball coach at UDC…a former player at Georgetown University, he previously served as an assistant coach at Georgetown for 20 seasons (1983-2004) and also served as an assistant coach for the 1988 US Olympic Team…Patrick Crarey is in his fifth season as head men's basketball coach at WAU…he has led the Shock to a 55-59 (.482) record and one (2014) USCAA national championship over the previous four seasons.
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 31-11 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.
THE SERIES vs. UDC: Saturday's game will mark the third meeting between Daemen and UDC…Daemen swept the season series last year…the Wildcats cruised to a 97-42 victory at Lumsden Gym in the first-ever meeting…Daemen led by 34 points (51-17) at halftime and held a 53-point lead (80-27) midway through the second half…Gerald Beverly led the way with 19 points, while Supreme Hannah added 13 points and five assists off the bench…Clenco Brannon III paced the Firebirds with 11 points and nine rebounds…Daemen completed the sweep with a 92-71 win at UDC…Beverly led the way with 34 points and five blocks, while Kadeem Johnson added 20 points and 13 rebounds…five players scored in double figures for UDC…Omar Abbas and Reggie Sidbury each scored 16 points to lead the way.
THE SERIES vs. WAU: Monday's game will mark the second all-time meeting between Daemen and WAU…the first-ever meeting came during the semifinals of last year's USCAA Tournament and fourth-seeded WAU posted a 58-57 upset over top-seeded Daemen…neither team led by more than six points during a tightly played second half…Martin Wilson led the way for WAU with 20 points…Eric Lindsey added 14 points off the bench and scored the game-winning bucket with 55 seconds left…Uchechi Ogbonna (15 pts, 9 rebs) and Kadeem Johnson (15 pts, 8 rebs) paced the Wildcats.
THE WILDCATS (6-3; 2-0 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 are playing their first games since splitting two games during the Trip Sports Cruzin' Classic in Florida…Daemen defeated NAIA power St. Thomas (91-75) before suffering a 78-51 loss to Indianapolis—which is ranked #9 among NCAA Division II teams…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…a two-time ECC Player of the Week selection this season, he recorded his first career triple double (17 pts, 17 rebs, 12 blks) during the win over St. Thomas and has recorded six double-doubles this year…he once again leads the team in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounding (11.9 rpg) and blocks (44)…senior Jordan Greene also returns after averaging 10.5 points with a team-high 52 three-pointers last year…he scored 14 points in a 93-75 win over Queens and is averaging 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds with 15 three-pointers…junior guard Supreme Hannah has stepped into the starting lineup at point guard…he is shooting 58-percent from three-point land (18-for-31) and is averaging 12.0 points and 3.8 assists…he went 5-for-6 from downtown and scored a career-high 22 points in the 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 five of DC's nine games and scored 24 points in the win over St. Thomas…he is averaging 17.8 points and 4.9 rebounds…Mehmetaj was named to the all-tournament team following the season-opening Knee Center of WNY / ECC-CACC Challenge after totaling 20 points and a team-high 21 rebounds over the two games…he has missed the last six games due to injury…Petrucelli is averaging 13 minutes off the bench and contributed 10 points, six boards and three assists in a season-opening win over Concordia…senior Kyle Clifford has scored in double figures in three of the last four games and is averaging 7.2 points with 13 three-pointers…he played a season-high 24 minutes in a 75-61 win over Molloy and contributed 10 points…senior Aaron Davis has started six of the first nine games…he played 34 minutes and totaled nine points, seven rebounds and three assists in a 90-84 OT loss to Mercyhurst.
THE FIREBIRDS (2-9; 2-1 ECC): District of Columbia returns eight players and four starters from last year's team that finished 3-23 (1-19 ECC)…UDC was voted ninth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Firebirds welcome the return of senior guards Michael Terry and Quasim Jones—the team's top two leading scorers from two years ago—who both missed most of last year due to injury…UDC opened the year with eight-straight losses, but has won two of its last three games including impressive ECC wins over New York Tech (92-85) and LIU Post (94-91)…the Firebirds are playing their first game since suffering a 75-71 loss to Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 19…freshman guard Kory Cooley has enjoyed an impressive start to his career…a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, he totaled four three-pointers and 26 points in the win over LIU Post…he is shooting 44% (26-59) from three-point land and is averaging a team-high 17.5 points…Terry had 23 points and seven rebounds in the win over LIU Post and is averaging 14.6 points and 6.9 rebounds…Jones contributed 17 points and eight assists against LIU Post and is averaging 11.0 points and 4.6 assists…additional production has come from junior transfer Geran Pope (8.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and freshman Andre Williams (6.7 ppg)…Pope had 19 points and 16 rebounds in an early-season loss to Goldey-Beacom, while Williams scored a team-high 21 points in the win over NYIT.
THE SHOCK (7-7): Washington Adventist is a Division II member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)…the Shock are also affiliated with the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA)…WAU returns six players and three starters from last year's team that finished 22-8 and claimed the USCAA national championship…the Shock defeated top-seeded Daemen (58-57) in the USCAA Tournament semifinals, before cruising past Tennessee Temple (61-38) in the championship game…the Shock have won three of their last five games and are playing their first game since posting an 86-72 victory over West Virginia State on Dec. 16…veterans Eric Lindsey, Tyrus Fleetwood and Martin Wilson have paced the Shock this season…Lindsey, a USCAA second-team All-American last year, scored 28 points in a 102-98 loss to Livingstone and leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg), steals (25) and three-pointers (21)…Fleetwood poured in 30 points in the win over West Virginia State and is averaging 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists…the 6-foot-8 Wilson drilled six three-pointers and totaled 24 points in the loss to Livingstone and is averaging 12.4 points and 8.6 rebounds…newcomers Lebrent Walker (8.4 ppg) and Juwan Grant (7.6 ppg) have also produced…Walker had 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in a recent 85-61 win over Wilberforce, while Grant contributed 17 points in the same game.
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 18-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).
BEVERLY'S BLOCK PARTY: Gerald Beverly has recorded at least one block in 42-straight games (and 51 of the last 52 games) dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season…he has also scored in double figures in 39-straight games…he registered seven blocks in a win over Dominican on Nov. 30 and in the process became Daemen's leader in career blocks—replacing 2006 graduate Ron Wright…he has totaled 264 blocks in 98 career games (2.7 per game) and 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 eighth in career points (1,344) and fourth in career rebounds (738) among Daemen's all-time leaders.
GREENE NEARS 150 TRIPLES: Senior Jordan Greene stands just nine three-pointers shy of 150 for his career…he is looking to 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 in five of the last six games and is averaging 12.0 points…he leads the team in assists (3.8 apg), three-point field goals (18) and three-point field goal percentage (.581)…Dyck, a junior college transfer, has started all nine games and ranks second on the team in scoring (17.8 ppg) and assists (2.6 apg)…he has scored at least 20 points five times and netted a season-high 29 points in an OT loss at Mercyhurst.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 39-2 since the start of the 2009-10 season when it scores 90 or more points.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action next weekend when it hosts Dowling College (Jan. 9) and the University of Bridgeport (Jan. 10) in ECC action…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.
