| THE LEAD |
| Off to a 5-1 start this season, the Daemen College men's basketball team opens East Coast Conference play by visiting Long Island University Post for a mid-week battle...the Wildcats are seeking to start 1-0 in league play for the third time in the last four seasons. |
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
 Â Â Â Â VS Â Â Â  Â Â Â Â Â |
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Date:
Wednesday, November 30 |
Time:Â
6:00 p.m. |
Location:Â
Pratt Recreation Center - Brookville, N.Y. |
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| Daemen Roster |
LIU Post Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
LIU Post Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
LIU Post Stats |
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| LIVE STATS |
LIVE VIDEO |
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| SOCIAL MEDIA |
| Daemen Twitter:Â |
@DaemenAthletics, @DaemenMBB |
| Daemen Hashtags:Â |
#DCWildcatNation, #WNYsD2Team, #LiveBreatheDaemen, #beFIERCE |
| LIU Post Twitter:Â |
@liupostpioneers |
| East Coast Conference Twitter: |
@ECCSports |
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| RETURN OF THE MAC |
| Local hoops fixture Mike MacDonald returns to the bench for his third season as Daemen's head coach, and his 20th season overall as a collegiate head coach...in his first two seasons on the job, MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a 40-20 overall record...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...he followed that up by leading Daemen to a 19-10 record and the program's first-ever postseason berth at the NCAA Division II level, qualifying for and advancing to the finals of the East Coast Conference Tournament...prior to beginning his stint at Daemen, MacDonald transformed the Division III program at Medaille into a perennial power, averaging 18 wins per 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...the longtime bench boss opens the 2016-17 season with a career record of 296-246. |
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| DAEMEN SCOUTING REPORT (5-1, 0-0 ECC) |
| Daemen returns 12 players from its 2015-16 team which went 19-10 overall and 14-6 in East Coast Conference play, finishing second in the final regular season standings to earn the No. 2 seed in the ECC Tournament as the Wildcats made their first-ever postseason appearance at the NCAA Division II level...after receiving a bye into the semifinal round of the tourney, Daemen scored a wild 103-102 (OT) victory over sixth-seeded Mercy to advance to the ECC Tournament finals where their season came to an end with an 80-63 loss to top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas...for the second straight year, the Wildcats open the season after graduating one of the top players in team history...last year at this time, the Wildcats were learning about life without two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Year Gerald Beverly...this time around, the Wildcats are without 6-foot-5 wing Torrence Dyck who led the ECC in scoring last season (21.9 ppg)...among the team's returners are five players who started at least 12 games last season, and a sixth - redshirt-senior guard Supreme Hannah - who was limited to just four games last year after making 28 starts in 2014-15...the group of returners is headlined by redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj who earned second-team All-ECC honors last season after averaging 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game...Mehmetaj posted nine 20-point games and a team-best seven double-doubles last season while leading the team with 47 three-point field goals...he finished 12th in the league in scoring, 14th in rebounding and ninth in free throw percentage (80.2)...Hannah was averaging 11.5 points and 3.0 assists per game before he went down with a season-ending injury...he logged 33.4 minutes per game in 2014-15, averaging 10.5 points and 3.9 assists per game that season...redshirt-sophomore wing Deion Hamilton was a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection last season...he chipped in 8.0 points per game, including an average of 11.2 points in his 17 starts...among the team's new additions this season, redshirt-freshman Jeff Redband is expected to make an immediate impact...the Wildcats were picked fifth in the ECC preseason poll...Daemen got off to its first 5-0 start since the 2012-13 season, including wins last week over Edinboro (90-79) and Slippery Rock (69-57)...the Wildcats' season-opening win streak was halted Sunday at Mercyhurst where they fell 70-61...Mehmetaj made his regular season debut vs. Edinboro, scoring 16 of his 26 points in the final eight-and-a-half minutes to help preserve the win...Mehmetaj and Redband (20 points) combined to hit 12 of Daemen's 15 three-pointers in the win which moved Daemen to 57-2 when scoring 90 or more points since the start of the 2009-10 season...against Slippery Rock, Hannah and Redband shared game-high honors with 16 points apiece as Daemen led for nearly the entire game...senior guard Jaleo Wilkes came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points in the loss to Mercyhurst...the Wildcats boast six players averaging at least eight points per game, including four in double figures...Mehmetaj leads the way with 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per outing...Hamilton is producing 14.0 points per game while connecting on 56-percent of his field goal attempts...Hannah is contributing 14.0 points per game, while also leading the team with 24 assists...Redband is in double figures as well with 11.2 points per game...he leads the team in three-pointers with 15 and is shooting 43-percent from long distance...additional production is coming from redshirt-junior forward Aleks Miljenovic (9.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Wilkes (8.3 ppg, 2.0 spg) and sophomore guard Darius Garvin (6.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg). |
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| LIU POST SCOUTING REPORT (1-5, 0-0 ECC) |
| LIU Post is led by head coach Erik Smiles, now in his fourth season at the helm...Smiles heads a Pioneer program that has a storied history of success with six NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 14 seasons and nine consecutive ECC Tournament appearances...his two predecessors, Tim Cluess and Chris Casey, have each moved on to Division I jobs, leading the programs at Iona and Niagara, respectively...since taking the reins, Smiles has led the Pioneers to a 53-42 record, including a 40-29 mark in ECC play...the Pioneers went 18-12 overall and 12-8 in ECC play last season, ultimately bowing out in the semifinals of the ECC Tournament with an 85-58 loss to top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas...the Pioneers return just four players from their 2015-16 team, but all four are experienced, having each played double-figure minutes last year...included in the group of returners are a pair of all-conference picks in seniors Jared Hall and Greg Dotson...Hall, a 6-foot guard who earned first-team honors, led the Pioneers and ranked fifth in the ECC in scoring last year at 18.4 points per game...a tough matchup on the perimeter, Hall can score in a variety of ways...he ranked ninth in the league with 58 three-pointers, and second with 133 made free throws last season...Dotson, a 6-5 high-rising forward, earned second-team honors last season after posting 10 double-doubles and averaging 15.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game...among the team's 12 newcomers are 10 freshmen...senior guard Jemal Mosley transferred from New Haven where he scored over 800 points in three seasons, while also leading the Chargers in scoring last year (16.3 ppg)...the Pioneers were picked second in the ECC preseason poll but have gotten off to a rocky start with one win in six starts...their lone win was a 30-point blowout (90-60) of Concordia (N.Y.) on the second day of the Daniel Sullivan Memorial Tournament hosted by Dominican...since then, the Pioneers have suffered a pair of losses against NE-10 teams, falling by six on the road to Le Moyne, and by 10 at home vs. New Haven...Mosley and Dotson lead the team in scoring thus far, averaging 13.0 points apiece...Mosley scored a season-high 25 points in a loss to Wilmington on Nov. 13, and he leads the team with 15 three-pointers...Dotson has posted two double-doubles and is averaging a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game...Hall is producing 8.7 points per game, but is shooting just 33-percent from the field and 25-percent from three-point range...additional production is coming from newcomers Kyle McLeggan (8.0 ppg) and Jared Rivers (7.0 ppg). |
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| DAEMEN VS. LIU POST: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time:Â LIU Post leads the series 4-3 |
| Previous Meetings: |
| Feb. 19, 2016 - LIU Post 88, Daemen 76 |
(@ Daemen) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Jan. 15, 2016 - Daemen 91, LIU Post 82 |
(@ LIU Post) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Feb. 27, 2015 - LIU Post 79, Daemen 56 |
(@ LIU Post) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Jan. 23, 2015 - Daemen 79, LIU Post 74 |
(@ Daemen) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Jan. 31, 2014 - Daemen 94, LIU Post 91 |
(@ Daemen) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Dec. 13, 2013 - LIU Post 93, Daemen 85 |
(@ LIU Post) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Dec. 30, 2009 - LIU Post 79, Daemen 58 |
(@ LIU Post) |
BOX SCORE |
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| SEEING RED-BAND |
| Redshirt-freshman forward Jeff Redband was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for games held Nov. 21-27...the 6-foot-7 sharp-shooter averaged 13.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game over three contests in the week, helping Daemen pick up a pair of wins...Redband shot 51.7 percent from the field and 55 percent from three-point range in the contests...he opened the week by scoring 20 points in Daemen's 90-79 win at Edinboro...Redband canned five of his six three-pointers in the first half, and added five rebounds in the win...two days later, Redband hit his first four shots from the field, including three from long distance, en route to a 16-point performance in Daemen's 69-57 defeat of Slippery Rock...he closed the week with five points, three rebounds and two blocks in a 70-61 road loss at Mercyhurst...for the season, Redband has started all six contests and is producing 11.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while leading the team with 15 three-pointers...his selection is the first weekly honor for a Daemen player this season...the Wildcats led the league in Rookie of the Week selections last season with six. |
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| MAC'S MILESTONE |
| Last Wednesday's win over Edinboro was the 300th in the career of Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald...now in his 20th season as a collegiate head coach, and his third at Daemen, MacDonald spent nine seasons leading the Division I program at Canisius where he totaled 108 wins to rank third all-time...he went on to transform the Division III program at Medaille into a perennial contender in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, leaving there as the program's all-time leader in wins with 148...since arriving at Daemen, MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a 45-21 mark. |
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| A MOST VALUABLE RETURN |
| The 2016-17 season openers marked the return of redshirt-senior guard Supreme Hannah to the Daemen lineup...Hannah, who missed the final 25 games last season and both exhibition contests in early November, did not disappoint as he collected Most Valuable Player honors for the ECC-CACC Challenge...in a 75-64 win over Caldwell on Nov. 11, Hannah scored 14 points and dished a team-high four assists in helping Daemen capture its 15th consecutive win in a season opener...he followed that with a 21-point, four-assist outing in an 11-point dispatching of Dominican on Nov. 12, while logging a game-high 37 minutes...the output marked the third 20-point game of his career and he tied a career-high with nine field goals...Hannah has made 35 consecutive starts in games that he's appeared in, dating back to the 2014-15 season...since the start of that season, Hannah is averaging 10.9 points and 3.8 assists per game. |
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| BULLISH EFFORTÂ |
| In an exhibition game vs. Division I Buffalo on Nov. 4, Daemen led for more than 12 minutes in the second half before falling by five (87-82) in overtime...it marked the second time in the last three seasons that Division II Daemen has taken a Division I opponent to overtime in exhibition action...the last time ended in an 83-81 win in Mike MacDonald's Daemen debut which just happened to come in his return to the Koessler Athletic Center where he coached Canisius for 18 seasons, including nine as the head coach...this time around, redshirt-freshman Jeff Redband hit his sixth three-pointer with 26 ticks remaining to erase the Bulls' three-point lead and send the game to overtime...Redband finished with a team-high 22 points...in the overtime period, Darius Garvin hit a three-pointer with 1:15 left to pull the Wildcats within one (82-81) but, after a UB turnover, his go-ahead jumper attempt was off the mark, and the Bulls answered with an old-fashioned three-point play to essentially put the game out of reach...Deion Hamilton netted 16 points for the Wildcats, while Arif Mehmetaj and Jaleo Wilkes chipped in with 15 and 12 points, respectively. |
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| 20/20 |
| Daemen's 19-win season in 2015-16 snapped a string of four-straight 20-win seasons...the Wildcats have registered at least 20 wins nine times in the last 14 seasons...the high-water mark in that stretch was the Wildcats' 27-6 campaign in 2012-13 when they played an independent schedule while transitioning to NCAA Division II. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Daemen is tied with St. Thomas Aquinas for the most East Coast Conference wins since the start of the 2013-14 season with 44. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen continues a stretch of four straight road games by visiting the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, Dec. 3. |
