| THE LEAD |
| The Daemen College men's basketball team plays at home for the first time since Nov. 25 when N.Y. Institute of Technology visits for an East Coast Conference clash on Wednesday...the Wildcats are looking to snap a four-game losing streak, their first since the 2010-11 season. |
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| SALUTING OUR HOMETOWN HEROES |
| Wednesday has been designated as "Hometown Heroes Game"...the Daemen College community will honor all active and retired military personnel, local police officers, firefighters, EMT's and all first responders during Wednesday's hoop doubleheader…military personnel, police officers, firefighters, EMT's and first responders receive FREE admission, and their families are eligible for the group rate of $2 per person…the night will feature in-game giveaways as well as door prizes and raffles—with proceeds raised being donated to the Wounded Warrior Project…halftime entertainment will also take place. |
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
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Date:
Wednesday, December 14 |
Time:
6:00 p.m. |
Location:
Lumsden Gymnasium - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| Daemen Roster |
NYIT Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
NYIT Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
NYIT Stats |
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| LIVE STATS |
LIVE VIDEO |
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| SOCIAL MEDIA |
| Daemen Twitter: |
@DaemenAthletics, @DaemenMBB |
| Daemen Hashtags: |
#DCWildcatNation, #WNYsD2Team, #LiveBreatheDaemen, #beFIERCE |
| NYIT Twitter: |
@NYITBears |
| 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 (5-4, 0-3 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...after getting off to their first 5-0 start since the 2012-13 season, the Wildcats have dropped four straight, all of which have come on the road, and all of which saw Daemen hold the lead at some point in the second half...the recent skid includes a pair of overtime losses at LIU Post (73-70) and District of Columbia (90-84)...the Wildcats are coming off a 79-69 loss to regionally-ranked Bridgeport last Saturday...Redband notched 17 points and six rebounds in the loss, keying an 18-2 first-half run that saw DC open up a 15-point lead...sophomore guard Darius Garvin (14 points) finished one point shy of his career high in the loss...through nine games this season, Hannah leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and assists (30)...he poured in a career-high 29 points in the loss at UDC on Dec. 3...Mehmetaj scored a season-high 26 points in a 90-79 win at Edinboro on Nov. 23, and is producing 14.3 points and a team-best 5.2 rebounds per game...Hamilton is contributing 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from long distance...Redband rounds out the Wildcats' double-figure scorers at 10.4 points per game...he leads the team in three-pointers with 22 and is shooting 40.7 percent from deep...additional production is coming from Garvin (7.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, team-high 13 steals), redshirt-junior forward Aleks Miljenovic (6.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (6.3 ppg, 2.0 apg)...the Wildcats enter Wednesday's game as the top free-throw shooting team in the league, converting 78.3 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe...Daemen also ranks first in the ECC in points allowed per game (69.4), opponents' three-point field goal percentage (30.9) and second in opponents' field goal percentage (41.5). |
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| NYIT SCOUTING REPORT (2-5, 1-2 ECC) |
| The NYIT Bears are led by first-year head coach Kevin Hamilton...this is Hamilton's first foray into collegiate coaching, but he's no stranger to the college game as he sits in the Iona College Hall of Fame after a successful playing career from 1976-80 in which he led the Gaels to an 84-31 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances...the Bears suffered through an injury-plagued 2015-16 season, finishing 3-24 overall and 2-18 in ECC play...the Bears return eight players from their 2015-16 roster, including 6-foot-8 forward Jon Feiler...Feiler was an honorable mention All-ECC pick in 2014-15 when he averaged 11.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, before being limited to just four games by an injury last season...also back is sophomore forward Jeffrey Hayden who was producing 15.7 points per game before missing the final 11 games last season...the Bears also bring back double-figure scorer Onyekachi Nzerem (11.0 ppg)...the Bears were picked ninth in the ECC preseason poll, and have dropped four of their last five games, including a 107-88 loss to nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas last Saturday...included in the stretch is a 101-75 loss to Division I Fordham on Nov. 14...the Bears' lone recent win came at home in league play over Queens (83-80)...Feiler ranks second in the ECC in scoring (21.0 ppg) and third in rebounding (11.3 rpg)...he scored a career-high 33 points on 14-of-25 shooting in the loss to St. Thomas Aquinas for his second 30+ point game of the season...Hayden scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win over Queens...he is contributing 13.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting a team-best 55.6 percent from the field...additional production is coming from sophomore guards Kieran Hamilton (11.3 ppg) and Walter King (10.4 ppg)...Hamilton has made half of the Bears' 36 three-pointers, and King has chipped in a team-high 21 assists...King is a Division I transfer from Maine where he made six appearances as a true freshman last season...no other NYIT player is averaging more than 4.4 points per game...the Bears will enter Wednesday's game as the top rebounding team in the league, averaging 42.4 rebounds per game...they also lead the league in offensive rebounds per game (14.4)...despite ranking in the top three in the league in both free throws made (15.1) and free throws attempted (23.9) per game, the Bears rank ninth in free throw accuracy, shooting 63.5 percent from the charity stripe...NYIT also ranks ninth in points per game allowed (84.4 ppg). |
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| DAEMEN VS. NYIT: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time: The series is tied 3-3 |
| Previous Meetings: |
| Feb. 21, 2016 - Daemen 93, NYIT 68 |
(@ Daemen) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Jan. 17, 2016 - Daemen 83, NYIT 67 |
(@ NYIT) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Feb. 28, 2015 - NYIT 78, Daemen 67 |
(@ NYIT) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Jan. 24, 2015 - NYIT 85, Daemen 84 (OT) |
(@ Daemen) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Feb. 2, 2014 - Daemen 84, NYIT 83 |
(@ Daemen) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Dec. 15, 2013 - NYIT 84, Daemen 79 |
(@ NYIT) |
GAME RECAP | 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 eight contests and is producing 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while leading the team with 17 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 |
| Daemen's 90-79 win over Edinboro on Nov. 23 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 45-23 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 EFFORT |
| 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? |
| At 0-3 in ECC play, the Wildcats are off to their toughest start in the league since going 1-3 during the 2013-14 season...of course that year, Daemen rebounded to win their final 16 league games, capturing the ECC regular season championship in their first year as an affiliate of the league. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen will close out the pre-Christmas portion of their 2016-17 season with a non-league game on Monday, December 19 with St. Michael's College coming to Lumsden Gymnasium for an early 11 a.m. tip-off. |
