Freshman guard Darius Garvin and the Daemen Wildcats host a pair of games this weekend

Men's Basketball 12/10/2015 10:00:00 AM

Men's Basketball Looks To Snap Slide This Weekend

Wildcats Host Edinboro Saturday, Open ECC Play Sunday Vs. District of Columbia

THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team looks to put its three-game losing streak to bed when it hosts a pair of games at Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend...the Wildcats face Edinboro University in non-conference action Saturday (Dec. 12) before opening East Coast Conference play versus University of the District of Columbia Sunday (Dec. 13).

Saturday, December 12 (at Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Daemen vs. Edinboro, 2:00 p.m.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / EU ROSTER / EU STATS / LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS / GAME PROGRAM

Sunday, December 13 (at Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Daemen vs. District of Columbia, 3:00 p.m.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / UDC ROSTER / UDC STATS / LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS / GAME PROGRAM

DIVISION II DEBUT: Daemen successfully completed a three-year membership process and was approved for active membership status at the NCAA Division II level by the NCAA Membership Committee his past summer…Daemen was accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) in July of 2012 and began playing full regular-season conference schedules in the fall of 2013…the 2015-16 academic year will mark the first year Daemen will be eligible for ECC and NCAA post-season play.

MAC IS BACK: Local hoops fixture Mike MacDonald returns to the bench for his second season as Daemen's head coach, and his 19th season overall as a collegiate head coach...in his first season at the helm, MacDonald led Daemen to a 21-10 campaign which concluded with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division I national championship last March...by winning 20 games in his Daemen debut, MacDonald became one of the only active coaches in the country to achieve a 20-win season at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels of competition...prior to beginning his stint at Daemen, MacDonald transformed the Division III program at Medaille into a perennial power, averaging 18 wins a season and advancing to the postseason six times in his eight years as head coach...MacDonald made his head coaching debut at the Division I level, leading the program at Canisius from 1997-2006...while there, MacDonald's teams racked up 108 wins making him the third all-time winningest coach in the program's history...MacDonald enters the 2015-16 season with a career record of 277-236.

DAEMEN SCOUTING REPORT (1-3, 0-0 ECC): Daemen returns nine players from last year's team that posted a 21-10 overall record and a 13-7 mark in the East Coast Conference, while capturing the USCAA Division I national championship in the team's final year of non-eligibility for ECC and/or NCAA Division II postseason play...in addition to the returners, head coach Mike MacDonald welcomes nine fresh faces to his 18-man roster...the big question heading into this season will be how the Wildcats can replace the consistent production of 6-foot-7 forward Gerald Beverly who was lost to graduation...the two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Year who is now playing professionally in Germany is arguably the most accomplished player in team history, and replacing the 20 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game he produced will be a tall order early on...Daemen was picked fourth in the ECC preseason poll released late last month...MacDonald does welcome back a pair of starters in senior guard Supreme Hannah and senior guard/forward Torrence Dyck...Hannah was perhaps the most improved player in the ECC last season, averaging 10.5 points and a team-best 3.9 assists per game as he transitioned into the team's starting point guard...after playing just 494 total minutes in his first two seasons, Hannah racked up 936 minutes in his junior campaign to rank seventh in the ECC in minutes per game (33.4)...Dyck, a 6-foot-5 slasher, made an immediate impact in his first season for the Wildcats, averaging 19.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game en route to first-team All-ECC honors, before having his season cut short in early February due to an injury...also back is 6-foot-7 forward Arif Mehmetaj...an inside-outside threat, Mehmetaj started the first three games of the 2014-15 season, averaging 8.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, before having his season cut short by an injury...the Wildcats opened their 2015-16 season by going 1-1 at the ECC-CACC Challenge hosted by Daemen at Lumsden Gymnasium...Daemen ran to a 109-87 win in the opener versus Wilmington (Del.), getting 29 points from Dyck, and 20 from Mehmetaj...sophomore guard Nick Petrucelli chipped in a career-high 17 points off the bench, helping Daemen lead by as many 30 points in the contest...the second day of the tournament saw Daemen lock up with Holy Family...HFU walked away with an 89-86 win in a great early season matchup as Hannah's game-tying three-point attempt was just off the mark at the buzzer...Mehmetaj notched career-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team, as was Dyck who netted 15 of his 23 points in the second half...Hannah added a career-high 23 points and newcomer Ryan Grandits recorded his first double-double (10 pts, 10 reb) of the season...Daemen suffered a 75-69 loss to Mercyhurst in their last home outing on November 24...in a game that featured 18 lead changes, Mercyhurst overcame a seven-point deficit midway through the second half to pull out the win...Mehmetaj (12 points) paced a balanced Daemen offense, while Dyck netted 11 and freshman guard Jay Sarkis knocked down three three-pointers as part of his 11-point outing...Daemen's skid hit three when they dropped a 72-51 decision on the road to Slippery Rock on December 1...the Wildcat offense, which came into the game averaging 88 points per game, never got on track as the SRU defense limited the Wildcats to just 30-percent shooting...Mehmetaj was the lone double-figure scorer (13 points)...Dyck leads Daemen in the early going, averaging 17.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 51-percent from the field..Mehmetaj is next, averaging 17.3 points and a team-best 6.8 boards per game...additional production is coming from Hannah (11.5 ppg, 3.0 apg), Grandits (9.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.3 apg) and Petrucelli (7.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg).

EDINBORO SCOUTING REPORT (5-2, 5-1 PSAC): Edinboro is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference...the Fighting Scots are led by third-year head coach Pat Cleary who was promoted to the top spot after spending 14 years as an assistant coach at EU...Cleary led EU to a 24-29 record in his first two seasons in the top job...last season he presided over a remarkable turnaround in PSAC play, improving from a 3-13 league record in his initial season, to an even 11-11 mark last year that resulted in a PSAC Tournament berth...the Fighting Scots welcome back nine players from their 2014-15 roster, including their top three scorers in senior guard Henri Wade-Chatman (18.9 ppg, 70 3-pt FG's), redshirt-sophomore guard Jaymon Mason (14.5 ppg, 46 3-pt FG's) and 6-foot-8 senior center Tommy Scales (7.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg)...EU went 2-2 in November but they are unbeaten this month and enter Saturday's game riding a three-game winning streak...the three recent wins, all PSAC contests, came over Mercyhurst (77-67), East Stroudsburg (68-66) and West Chester (69-66), and all three came on the road...the Fighting Scots' last loss came in their only non-conference game of the year to date, falling 80-67 at home to Lake Erie on November 24...the Fighting Scots are 3-0 in games decided by six points or less, and 4-1 in games decided by 10 points or less...Mason has led the way offensively thus far, averaging 22 points per game which ranks second in the PSAC and tied for 34th nationally...he has knocked down a team-high 17 three-pointers, connecting on 38-percent of his long range attempts, and is adding 5.4 rebounds per game...Mason also ranks 23rd in the country in free throw percentage, having made 39 of his 42 attempts this season (93-percent)...he scored 39 points in a 92-82 loss to Kutztown on November 21, and is averaging 23 points per game in the Fighting Scots' recent three-game winning streak...Wade-Chatman backs him up, averaging 17.3 points and 5.9 rebounds while dishing a team-high 21 assists...the big man Scales is also in double figures at 13.9 points per game, while ranking eighth in the PSAC in rebounding at 8.9 boards per game...additional production has come from Sheldon Brogdon (7.6 ppg, 11-for-26 3pt fg) who comes off the bench.

THE SERIES VS. EDINBORO: Saturday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Edinboro.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCOUTING REPORT (2-6, 0-0 ECC): UDC is a member of the East Coast Conference and is located in our nation's capital...the Firebirds are led by third-year head coach Mike Riley...Riley is a former assistant coach at Division I Georgetown, working there from 1983-2004 and helping the Hoyas to six Big East Conference championships...the Firebirds return seven players from their 2014-15 roster that achieved an overall record of 5-23, including a 5-15 mark in ECC play...in addition to losing senior guards Michael Terry (14.4 ppg, 56 3-pt FG's) and Quasim Jones (11.9 ppg, 4.5 apg), UDC was dealt a blow in the offseason when the 2014-15 ECC Rookie of the Year Kory Cooley (16.3 ppg, .497 FG%) opted to transfer to Virginia Union...the UDC returners are paced by 6-foot-5 senior forward Geran Pope who averaged 8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season...the Firebirds opened the season by suffering five-straight losses, but are 2-1 over their last three outings...UDC got off the proverbial schneid with a 98-83 home win over Chestnut Hill on November 28...that game avenged a 93-86 neutral-site loss to Chestnut Hill in the Firebirds' season-opener on November 14...UDC picked up a non-Division II win in its last outing, a 110-106 barn-burner over The Apprentice School, an affiliate of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association...the Firebirds play at Roberts Wesleyan on Friday (Dec. 11) before traveling to Lumsden Gymnasium for Sunday's tilt...newcomer Kasim Chandler, 5-foot-11 junior guard who transferred from Division I Quinnipiac, has led the Firebirds thus far, averaging 20.9 points per game which leads the ECC...Chandler, who missed the November 28 game vs. Chestnut Hill, has scored in double figure in all seven of his appearances, and is coming off a 39-point outing in the win over Apprentice last Sunday...returner Erin Senegal scored 33 points in Chandler's absence versus Chestnut Hill, and is averaging 17.3 points...the Firebirds are also getting double-figure scoring from newcomers Joseph Nickerson (14.0 ppg) and Jayone Troutman (12.6 ppg)...Nickerson also leads the team in assists (26) and shares team-high rebounding honors with Pope (6.5 rpg)...Pope is chipping in 7.4 points per game thus far...UDC enters this weekend as the top scoring team in the league, producing 82.6 points per game, but they also rank last in the league in points per game allowed (86.8) and second-to-last in opponents' field goal percentage (.475).

THE SERIES VS. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Sunday's game marks the fifth all-time meeting between Daemen and UDC...the teams have met twice in each of the last two seasons since Daemen joined the ECC, and the Wildcats have prevailed in all four contests...its been a one-sided rivalry with Daemen winning by an average margin of 31.7 points...the Firebirds have yet to hold Daemen under 92 points...the teams last met on February 6, 2015 at Lumsden Gymnasium with Daemen scoring a 102-74 win...Gerald Beverly led a quartet of double-figure scorers with 27 points for Daemen, while adding five boards and five blocks...Torrence Dyck netted 17 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Wildcats as well...UDC was paced by Michael Terry (23 points, 7 rebounds) and Kory Cooley (21 points).

PSAC PESTS: Saturday's game versus Edinboro marks the last of three-straight for Daemen against opponents from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference...the Wildcats are just 2-6 against PSAC teams dating back to the 2008-09 season...wins in that stretch have come over Gannon (67-65 on November 25, 2011) and Mercyhurst (69-63 on November 23, 2013).

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: At 1-3 so far this season, Daemen is below the .500 mark for the first time since mid-December of 2013, which was also the last time the Wildcats suffered a three-game slide...a 78-69 loss at Molloy on December 20, 2013, the Wildcats' third-straight at the time, dropped Daemen to 4-5 overall that season, before the team rebounded to win 16 of its final 17 regular season games, finishing the season at 21-7 overall and 17-3 in East Coast Conference play to capture the league's regular season crown in the Wildcats' first year as members of the Division II conference.

20/20: Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau in each of the last four seasons (and nine times over the past 13 seasons).

DID YOU KNOW?: Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Daemen is 57-12 in games played at Lumsden Gymnasium...their 75-69 loss to Mercyhurst on November 24 was just the Wildcats' fifth home loss in the last five seasons, and four of those have been decided by three points or less.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen hits the road to do battle with ECC foes Dowling (Friday, December 18) and Bridgeport (Sunday, December 20)....for a full look at what lies ahead, check out the Wildcats' complete 2015-16 schedule.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College men's basketball on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics /@DaemenMBB) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics /www.facebook.com/DaemenCollegeMensBasketball) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.

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Players Mentioned

#55 Gerald Beverly: F; 6' 7"; Senior

#4 Torrence Dyck: G/F; 6' 5"; Senior

#3 Supreme Hannah: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#21 Arif Mehmetaj: F; 6' 7"; Junior

#24 Nick Petrucelli: G; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#44 Ryan Grandits: F; 6' 5"; Graduate Student

#5 Jay Sarkis: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#55 Gerald Beverly
: 6' 7"; Senior
: F

#4 Torrence Dyck
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G/F

#3 Supreme Hannah
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#21 Arif Mehmetaj
: 6' 7"; Junior
: F

#24 Nick Petrucelli
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: G

#44 Ryan Grandits
: 6' 5"; Graduate Student
: F

#5 Jay Sarkis
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G