THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team hosts the University of the District of Columbia in an East Conference game Friday (Feb. 6)…the Wildcats enter the game in third place in the ECC standings and are looking to keep pace with league-leading University of Bridgeport and St. Thomas Aquinas College.
Friday, Feb. 6, 2015
District of Columbia at Daemen - 8 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / UDC ROSTER / UDC STATS
WEAR RED DAY: The Daemen College Diversity Action Committee is celebrating National Wear Red Day on campus this Friday, Feb. 6 to bring awareness to the fact that one in three women die of heart disease and stroke each year...all those visiting campus on Friday, including those planning to attend the home basketball doubleheader vs. District of Columbia, are encouraged to wear red in support of this worthy cause.
CROWD PLEASERS: A packed Lumsden Gymnasium has become the norm for men's basketball games…Daemen averaged an ECC-best 400 fans at Lumsden Gym last year…the Wildcats have provided some very entertaining basketball—averaging 86 points per game during their last 23 home games since the start of the 2013-14 season.
WIN STREAKS COMES TO AN END: Daemen saw two lengthy winning streaks come to an in recent weeks…the Wildcats had their Division II-best 21-game conference winning streak come to an end following a 95-87 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Jan. 16 had their Division II-best 44-game home winning streak snapped following an 85-84 OT loss to New York Tech on Jan. 24…NYIT's Darian Hooker hit a contested three-pointer as time expired in OT to snap the streak—which had ranked as the second longest in the nation among all NCAA men's basketball programs.
HOME SWEET HOME: Daemen is 23-1 at Lumsden Gym since beginning ECC play during the 2013-14 season and the Wildcats have gone 45-2 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season…both losses have been by one point.
POLL POSITION: Daemen is ranked 10th in the latest D2SIDA Division II East Region poll…the poll includes the top-ten teams from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Collegiate Athletic Conference…Daemen is also ranked No. 1 in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll.
NATIONAL HONOR FOR BEVERLY: Senior forward Gerald Beverly was 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 recent wins over Washington Adventist University, Dowling College and the University of Bridgeport.
THE COACHES: Mike MacDonald is in 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 (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012)…he left Medaille as the school's all-time leader in wins (148) and winning percentage (.670)…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 270-232 (.538 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.
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) in July of 2012 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 38-14 against Division II teams since the start of the 2012-13 season.
THE SERIES vs. UDC: Friday's game will mark the fourth meeting between Daemen and UDC…Daemen swept the season series last year and has prevailed in each of the previous three meetings…Daemen posted a 95-72 win at UDC last month…Torrence Dyck, Jr. led the way with 30 points, while Jordan Greene recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds…Michael Terry paced the Firebirds with 19 points…the Wildcats cruised to a 97-42 victory at Lumsden Gym last year 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 WILDCATS (14-6; 9-3 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 won 10 of their first 13 games, but are just 4-3 over their last seven…Daemen split games at Molloy (W, 82-76 OT) and Queens (L, 93-83) last weekend…senior forward Gerald Beverly and junior transfer Torrence Dyck have paced the Wildcats…Beverly, the 2013-14 ECC Defensive Player of the Year and 2014-15 ECC Co-Preseason Player of the Year, has recorded 10-straight and 16 total 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 ranks second on the team in scoring (20.1 ppg) and leads the ECC in rebounding (12.6 rpg), field goal percentage (.608) and blocks (76)…Dyck has scored 20 or more points in 13 of DC's 20 games and has averaged 25.0 points over the last four games…he is averaging a team-high 20.3 points and 5.6 rebounds…senior Jordan Greene scored a season-high 19 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists in a 91-88 OT win over Bridgeport and is averaging 11.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists with a team-high 41 three-pointers…junior guard Supreme Hannah is shooting 44-percent from three-point land (27-for-61) and is averaging 10.7 points and 3.4 assists…additional production has come from seniors Kyle Clifford and Aaron Davis and freshman Nick Petrucelli…Clifford has scored in double figures 10 times and is averaging 8.3 points with 34 three-pointers…Davis has started 17 games and is contributing 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game…Petrucelli is averaging 19 minutes a game and is averaging 3.8 points.
THE FIREBIRDS (4-16; 4-8 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 has dropped three of its last four games and is coming off a 91-81 loss to New York Tech this past Saturday…freshman guard Kory Cooley has enjoyed an impressive start to his career…a five-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, he scored 22 points in a recent 104-86 win over Dowling…he is shooting 40% (40-99) from three-point land and is averaging a team-high 17.6 points…Terry had a team-high 18 points off the bench in last Saturday's loss to NYIT and is averaging 13.8 points and 5.9 rebounds…Jones contributed 20 points and seven assists in a recent 86-72 loss to STAC and is averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 assists…additional production has come from junior transfer Geran Pope (8.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and freshman Andre Williams (5.6 ppg)…Pope had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Dowling.
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 closed out the regular-season by winning 16 consecutive league games—a streak that reached a Division-II best 21-straight league wins before the Wildcats suffered a 95-87 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Jan. 16…Daemen has posted an ECC-best 26-6 league record over the past two seasons.
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 times this season and is also a three-time selection to the weekly ECC honor roll…Torrence Dyck, Jr. is a three-time selection to the weekly ECC honor roll.
BEVERLY'S BLOCK PARTY: Gerald Beverly has recorded at least one block in 59 of the last 63 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 ranks high among all Division II players in blocks per game (3.8)…he recently replaced 2006 graduate Ron Wright as Daemen's leader in career blocks and enters this weekend's action with 296 blocks in 109 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 50-straight games and recorded his 43rd career double-double during Daemen's loss to Queens 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 Friday's game just 19 points shy of 1,600 career points and 18 rebounds shy of 900 career rebounds…he ranks fifth in career points (1,581), third in career rebounds (882) and first in career blocks (296) among Daemen's all-time leaders.
GREENE HITS 150 TRIPLES: Senior Jordan Greene drilled four three-pointers during Daemen's win over Bridgeport on Jan. 10 and in the process recorded his 150th career triple…he has totaled 167 triples in 108 career games and 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 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 nine times this season and is averaging 10.7 points…he is averaging a team-high 3.4 assists and also leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (27-61/.443)…Dyck, a junior college transfer, has started all 20 games and leads the team in scoring (20.3 ppg)…he has scored at least 20 points 13 times and netted a season-high 35 points in the 95-87 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Jan. 16.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 41-2 since the start of the 2009-10 season when it scores 90 or more points.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen is idle until next weekend when it travels to Dowling College (Feb. 13) and the University of Bridgeport (Feb. 14) for ECC games…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.
