Long Island native Nick Petrucelli leads Daemen into games vs. Dowling and Bridgeport this weekend

Men's Basketball 12/17/2015 12:30:00 PM

Men's Basketball Travels To Dowling & Bridgeport This Weekend

THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team hits the road for just the second time this season, and the first time in East Coast Conference play to do battle with Dowling College on Friday (December 18) and University of Bridgeport on Sunday (December 20).

Friday, December 18 (at Dowling Gymnasium, Oakdale, N.Y.)
Daemen @ Dowling, 7:00 p.m.
DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / DOWLING ROSTER / DOWLING STATS / LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS

Sunday, December 20 (at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasiu, Bridgeport, Conn.)
Daemen @ Bridgeport, 3:00 p.m.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / UB ROSTER / UB STATS / LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS

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 (2-4, 0-1 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...Daemen was picked fourth in the ECC preseason poll released late last month...MacDonald welcomes 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 the 2015-16 season by racing to a 109-87 victory over Wilmington (Del.) on the first day of the ECC-CACC Challenge at Lumsden Gymnasium...but, the Wildcats dropped their next three games, falling to Holy Family (89-86), Mercyhurst (75-69) and Slippery Rock (72-51) to mark the program's first three-game slide since December of 2013...Daemen got off the proverbial schneid with an 88-79 non-conference win over Edinboro last Saturday...Dyck netted 26 points and Mehmetaj went for 21 points and nine boards in the win...the Wildcats got great efforts off the bench from Jaleo Wilkes (season-high nine points, three assists), Xavier Long (career-high seven points, career-high eight rebounds) and Jesse Lalka (2-for-3 from three-point range) in the win...the Wildcats could not complete the weekend sweep, however, falling to District of Columbia (89-84) in their ECC season opener this past Sunday...Dyck flirted with a triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists), and has shot 54-percent from the field (19-for-35) and 44-percent from three-point range (4-for-9) in his last two outings...Mehmetaj added 24 points and eight rebounds, while Petrucelli made his second-straight start and contributed 10 points and six rebounds in the loss...Dyck and Mehmetaj continue to Pace an explosive Daemen offense which ranks second in the ECC in scoring (81.2 ppg)...Dyck (20.5 ppg) is the conference's leading scorer, and is one of 69 players nationally to be averaging 20+ points per game...Mehmetaj is producing 19 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game, ranking fifth in the ECC in scoring and ninth in rebounding...additional production has come from Hannah (11.5 ppg, 3.0 apg), although he missed the last two games with an injury, as well as from Ryan Grandits (8.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.3 apg), Petrucelli (7.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Jay Sarkis (6.0 ppg, 62% 3pt fg).

DOWLING SCOUTING REPORT (5-4, 1-1 ECC): Dowling is located in Oakdale, N.Y. on Long Island, although their home venue, Dowling Gymnasium, is located on Saint John's University's Oakdale campus, about 2.5 miles from DC's campus...the Golden Lions are led by head coach John Mateyko who is in the midst of his second season at the helm after spending the previous 13 years at Division III Saint Joseph's College...Mateyko has posted a career record of 208-145 to date, and guided the Golden Lions to a 13-16 overall record in his first season, including a 10-10 mark in the ECC...that was good enough to earn the sixth and final berth to the 2015 ECC Tournament, although had Daemen been eligible, the Golden Lions would have been on the outside looking in...Mateyko's squad made the most of its opportunity, upsetting third-seeded NYIT to advance to the semifinal round...the Golden Lions welcome back nine players from its 2014-15 roster, and they were selected sixth in the ECC preseason poll released in late October...Mateyko's number one objective heading into the season was certainly on replacing two-time first-team All-ECC guard Darien Davis who was lost to graduation after averaging 21.7 points per game last season...the Golden Lions do welcome back a trio of double-figure scorers in 6-foot-8 senior center Evan Maxwell (13.7 ppg, 9.4 rpg), three-point threat Ryan Hickey (11.3 ppg, 46 made 3pt fgs) and point guard Tristan Brown (10 ppg, 4.4 apg)...after opening the season with back-to-back defeats at the ECC/NE-10 Challenge, the Golden Lions have rebounded to go 5-2 dating back to an 81-66 road win at Dominican on Nov. 20...additional non-conference wins in recent matchups have come over Goldey-Beacom, Felician and Caldwell to improve the Golden Lions to a perfect 4-0 record against teams from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference...Dowling opened ECC play on Dec. 9 with a 91-77 road win at NYIT...the Golden Lions saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with a 64-62 loss at regionally-ranked LIU Post last Saturday...taking care of the ball and playing solid defense have been the mantras for Dowling so far this season...the Golden Lions rank first among ECC teams in assists per game (15.3) and second in turnovers per game (11.8)...they are also among the league leaders in points per game allowed (71.6 - third) and field goal percentage defense (40.6% - second), ranking 44th nationally in the latter...newcomer Chris Millender, a 6-foot-6 junior college transfer from Suffolk Community College, has paced the Golden Lions thus far, averaging 19.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game...Millender, who scored a season-high 34 points on 14-for-17 shooting in the win over Goldey-Beacom, leads the ECC and ranks 15th in the country in rebounding presently...he's gone over 20 points in three consecutive games, averaging 24.7 points per game in those outings...his five double-doubles rank 10th in the nation...Maxwell has chipped in by producing 12.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game thus far...together with Millender, the pair is accounting for 48-percent of the team's rebounds...also in double figures has been Hickey who is averaging 10 points per game and shooting 37-percent from three-point range (19-for-52)...additional production is coming from Brown (9.0 ppg, league-leading 6.6 apg) and newcomer Vincent Abbandola who comes off the bench with 9.8 points per game.

THE SERIES VS. DOWLING: Friday's game will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Golden Lions...Daemen owns a 4-0 lead in the all-time series which began just two seasons ago when the Wildcats joined the ECC...it's been an entertaining series filled with close games thus far as the Wildcats have won by an average margin of just 5.3 points in the four all-time meetings...the teams have produced some instant classics, including a 79-72 overtime game in their first-ever meeting on Jan. 17, 2014, a game in which the Wildcats overcame a 16-point second-half deficit, getting a career-high 28 points from Jordan Greene...last season's meetings were especially tight with Daemen winning by one at home (89-88 on Jan. 9, 2015) and by five at Dowling Gymnasium (103-98 on Feb. 13, 2015)...Gerald Beverly put up a couple monster games for the Wildcats, averaging 27 points and 20 rebounds in the two games, while Torrence Dyck produced an average of 20 points as well...Evan Maxwell paced the Golden Lions in defeat, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT (2-5, 1-1 ECC): UB is located in Bridgeport, Conn. on the coast of Long Island Sound...the Purple Knights are led by veteran head coach Mike Ruane who is in his 14th season on the UB bench...the 2011 ECC Coach of the Year has guided the Purple Knights to eight 20-win seasons and seven NCAA Tournament berths in the last 10 years, and owns a career record of 253-145 to date...last season was another stellar one for Ruane and the Purple Knights, capturing both the ECC regular season and tournament titles before advancing to the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 24-7 overall record...UB welcomes back seven players from last year's team, including incumbent starters Devon Elliott (16.4 ppg, 75 3pt fgs), Ernest Rouse (13.8 ppg, 78 3pt fgs) and Eddie Asamoah (9.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg), although first-team All-ECC performer Willie Williams III (14.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg) was lost to graduation...Elliot and Rouse, both second-team All-ECC picks last season, along with fellow returner Jesse Jones (14.1 ppg, 60 3pt fgs) give the Purple Knights an incredible amount of returning production from beyond the three-point line...only 2014-15 ECC Player of the Year Darian Hooker of NYIT made more three-point baskets last season than Elliott and Rouse...the trio accounts for three of the top six returning three-point shooters in the ECC, in terms of total three-point field goals made last season...UB earned eight of the 11 first-place votes to sit atop the ECC preseason poll released in late October...it's been a rocky start to the season for the league favorites, as they sit at 2-5 overall entering this weekend's games (UB hosts Roberts Wesleyan on Friday before playing Daemen), although they have played one of the tougher earlier season schedules in the East Region...four of their five losses have come against teams ranked in the D2SIDA East Region poll at the time of their meeting...those opponents have combined for an overall record of 24-14 so far this season...UB opened the season with back-to-back losses at its own tournament, the Bridgeport Classic, falling to regionally-ranked Southern New Hampshire and Southern Connecticut State...the Purple Knights rebounded with an 89-86 win over Bentley, the No. 2 ranked team in the region on Nov. 21...consecutive losses followed in matchups with Merrimack, American International and Long Island Post, the last of which coming in UB's ECC opener on Dec. 9...the Purple Knights jumped back in the win colum by downing NYIT 102-86 last Saturday...Jones leads a quartet of double-figure scorers thus far, averaging 16.4 points per game despite coming off the bench in all but one game this season...Jones is shooting 46-percent from three-point range and his 25 total three-point baskets rank third in the ECC...Elliott, who played previously at Buffalo's Erie Community College, is next, averaging 13.3 points per game, but is yet to find the touch from outside as he's shooting just 24-percent from three-point range (10-for-41)...Rouse has put up 13 points per outing but has missed the last three games...additional production has come from Asamoah (7.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and newcomers Muhammed Ahmed (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and Montana Mayfield (9.1 ppg, 39% 3pt fg)...as expected, the Purple Knights enter this weekend's action leading the league in both three-pointers made (8.3) and attempted (23.6) per game...UB also ranks third in the league in scoring at 80.9 points per game, but defense has been an issue as they rank last in points allowed per game (85.9).

THE SERIES VS. BRIDGEPORT: Sunday's game will mark the fifth-all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Purple Knights...Daemen owns a 3-1 lead in the all-time series which began just two seasons ago when the Wildcats joined the ECC...Daemen swept the season series in 2013-14, including a 75-66 win at Lumsden Gymnasium on Feb. 22, 2014 which clinched the ECC regular season crown for the Wildcats in their first season in the league...the two teams played a pair of tight ballgames last season, splitting the season series with each team winning on its home floor...Daemen struck first with a 91-88 overtime win on Jan. 10, 2015, getting 36 points and 15 rebounds from Gerald Beverly...in the second meeting, Ernest Rouse drilled a corner three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining to deliver a 63-60 win for UB...Rouse's clutch shot came after Kyle Clifford knotted the game at 60-all with a triple of his own at the 25 second mark...Devon Elliott notched 18 points to lead the Purple Knights while Daemen got a game-high 19 points from Jordan Greene in defeat.

ECC HONOR ROLL: Torrence Dyck is Daemen's most recent recipient of a weekly accolade from the ECC as he was named the league's Player of the Week for games played Dec. 7-13...Dyck helped the Wildcats to a 1-1 record in that span, averaging 26 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4 assists per game, while shooting 54-percent from the field...he posted his first double-double of the season, and third of his career, with 26 points and 11 boards versus District of Columbia on Dec. 13...at present, Dyck leads the ECC and ranks 58th nationally in scoring (20.5 ppg)...prior to Dyck, the Wildcats' Arif Mehmetaj and Jay Sarkis also earned weekly honors from the ECC...Mehmetaj was the ECC Player of thee Week for games played Nov. 9-15, and Sarkis was the ECC Rookie of the Week for games played Nov. 23-29.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Sunday's game between Daemen and Bridgeport pits two of the premier programs in both the ECC and East Region against one another...the Wildcats and Purple Knights entered the season ranked among the top teams in several areas regarding recent win totals...from 2011-15, Daemen won more games (89) than any other team in the NCAA Division II East Region, while Bridgeport ranked second (tied with Philadelphia) with 87 victories...from 2013-15, the period of time beginning Daemen's ECC membership, Bridgeport ranked first among ECC teams with 31 conference wins, while Daemen ranked second (30)...in the same span, the two teams each won 42 games to rank as the highest overall win total among ECC teams.

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?: Daemen is 44-2 since the start of the 2009-10 season when it scores 90 or more points...four of those victories have come against this week's opponents - Dowling and Bridgeport (two against each team).

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen is idle until after the New Year when it partakes in the 10th Annual James Clancy Memorial Tournament hosted by Dominican College in Orangeburg, N.Y....while there, Daemen will face the host Dominican Chargers (Jan. 2) and Felician (Jan. 3)....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

#10 Kyle Clifford: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#33 Jordan Greene: F; 6' 5"; Senior

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

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

#11 Jesse Lalka: G/F; 6' 2"; Junior

#15 Xavier Long: F; 6' 2"; Sophomore

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

#10 Kyle Clifford
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#33 Jordan Greene
: 6' 5"; Senior
: F

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

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

#11 Jesse Lalka
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G/F

#15 Xavier Long
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: F

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

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

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