| THE LEAD |
| The Daemen College men's basketball team looks to return to its winning ways when they face the University of the District of Columbia in an early-season East Coast Conference matchup this weekend...the two teams split the season series last year with each winning on the other's home floor...the Wildcats are unbeaten in three all-time meetings with UDC in our nation's capital. |
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
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   VS          |
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Date:
Saturday, December 3 |
Time:Â
3:00 p.m. |
Location:Â
UDC Sports Complex - Washington, D.C. |
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| Daemen Roster |
District of Columbia Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
District of Columbia Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
District of Columbia 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 |
| District of Columbia Twitter:Â |
@UDCAthletics |
| 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 (5-2, 0-1Â 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, and they are coming off a 73-70 (OT) loss at LIU Post in their ECC season opener on Wednesday...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...against LIU Post, Daemen used a 19-2 run to close the first half to establish control, and led by as many as 15 points in the second half before the Pioneers came storming back...between the end of regulation and overtime, the Wildcats went nearly 11 minutes between field goals...Mehmetaj hit five of Daemen's 14 three-pointers and notched a team-high 15 points while Hamilton recorded the first double-double of his career (14 points, career-high 11 rebounds) in the loss...the Wildcats boast five players averaging at least eight points per game, including four in double figures...Mehmetaj leads the way with 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per outing...Hamilton is producing 14.0 points per game while connecting on 53.5 percent of his field goal attempts...Hannah is contributing 13.3 points per game, while also leading the team with 24 assists...Redband is in double figures as well with 10.7 points per game...he leads the team in three-pointers with 17 and is shooting 40.5 percent from long distance...additional production is coming from Wilkes (8.8 ppg, 2.3 apg, 2.0 spg), redshirt-junior forward Aleks Miljenovic (7.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and sophomore guard Darius Garvin (5.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.6 apg). |
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| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCOUTING REPORT (1-4, 0-0 ECC) |
| Back for another season on the UDC bench is fourth-year head coach Mike Riley....the former Georgetown assistant has guided the Firebirds to a remarkable turn-around, posting 15 wins in 2015-16, just two years removed from a 3-23 campaign in Riley's first season...the Firebirds finished 15-14 overall last season, qualifying as the No. 3 seed for the ECC Tournament after posting a 13-7 league record...it was the Firebirds' first ECC Tournament berth since the 2011-12 team...they were bounced in the first round by sixth-seeded Mercy, 72-71...UDC returns five players from its 2015-16 roster, including three double-figure scorers...that group is headlined by senior guard Kasim Chandler who finished fourth in the league in scoring last season at 19.1 points per game...the ultra-quick Chandler knows how to get to the rim and draw contact as he led the league in free throws made (167) and attempted (200), while also dishing off a team-high 104 assists...the Firebirds also return senior guard Joseph Nickerson (15.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and senior forward Jayone Troutman (12.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg)...UDC was picked fourth in the ECC preseason poll...the Firebirds have tasted victory just once in the early going this season, knocking off Chestnut Hill 94-71 on Nov. 13...three straight losses have followed, including an 83-60 loss at Slippery Rock on Nov. 23, and a 71-69 defeat in their home opener earlier this week (Nov. 30) vs. Virginia Union...Nickerson has paced the UDC offense thus far, shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 46.9 percent from three-point range while posting 21.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game...the 6-foot-4 senior has hit multiple three-pointers in every game this season...he flirted with a triple-double in the win over Chestnut Hill, posting 27 points (on 11-of-15 shooting), nine rebounds and eight assists...Chandler is producing 16.6 points and and ECC-best 6.4 assists per game...additional production is coming from senior guard Reggie Sidbury (11.0 ppg), Troutman (9.8 ppg) and junior guard Traevon Butler (8.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg)...the five starters are accounting for 87 percent of the Firebirds' scoring with their bench producing just under 10 points per game...UDC currently ranks fourth in the league in scoring as a team (76.2 ppg) and third in field goal percenage (.450), but also last in field goal percentage defense (.495). |
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| DAEMEN VS. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time:Â Daemen leads the series 5-1 |
| Previous Meetings: |
| Jan. 29, 2016 - Daemen 100, UDC 89 |
(@ UDC) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Dec. 13, 2015 - UDC 89, Daemen 84 |
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GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Feb. 6, 2015 - Daemen 102, UDC 74 |
(@ Daemen) |
GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Jan. 3, 2015 - Daemen 95, UDC 72 |
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GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Feb. 24, 2014 - Daemen 92, UDC 71 |
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GAME RECAP | BOX SCORE |
| Jan. 12, 2014 - Daemen 97, UDC 42 |
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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 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? |
| In five all-time games at the UDC Sports Complex, including two in last season's ECC Tournament, Daemen is averaging 90.6 points per game and shooting 48.9 percent from the field...in just the three all-time meetings there between Daemen and UDC, those numbers jump to 95.7 points per game and 53.2 percent shooting. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen concludes a stretch of four straight road games by visiting the University of Bridgeport on Saturday, Dec. 10. |
