Junior forward/center Alex Borges and the Daemen Wildcats host Dowling and Bridgeport this weekend

Men's Basketball 2/4/2016 10:10:00 AM

Daemen Looks To Continue Winning Ways This Weekend

Wildcats Host Dowling and Bridgeport For ECC Clashes

THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's basketball team puts its seven-game winning streak on the line when they play host to Dowling College and University of Bridgeport this weekend in East Coast Conference action.

Friday, February 5 (at Lumsden Gymnasium Amherst, N.Y.)
Daemen vs. Dowling, 7:00 p.m.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / DOW ROSTER / DOW STATS / VIDEO / LIVE STATS

Sunday, February 7 (at Lumsden Gymnasium Amherst, N.Y.)
Daemen vs. Bridgeport, 3:00 p.m.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / UB ROSTER/ UB STATS / VIDEO / LIVE STATS

HOMETOWN HEROES: Friday's game against Dowling will mark Daemen's annual Hometown Heroes game...all active or reserve military members and veterans will be offered free admission to the game upon presentation of valid military identification...a pre-game ceremony is planned to honor all veterans and military personnel, and Daemen will welcome back former men's basketball player and Operation Desert Storm veteran Brian Pettit as part of the festivities which includes an opportunity for spectators to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project.

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 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...to date, MacDonald owns a career record of 289-242.

DAEMEN SCOUTING REPORT (12-6, 8-3 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 in late October...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...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...after going 1-3 over their first four games of the season, Daemen has gone 11-3 in their last 14, dating back to an 88-79 non-conference win over Edinboro on Dec. 12...since then, the Wildcats have added non-league victories over Dominican (69-60) and Felician (94-71), while league wins have come against Dowling (97-80), Mercy (94-81), Roberts Wesleyan (98-96), LIU Post (91-82), NYIT (83-67), Molloy (81-64), Queens (107-96) and District of Columbia (100-89)...the win over Mercy on Jan. 9 snapped Daemen's two-game home losing skid which featured ECC defeats to District of Columbia (89-84) and St. Thomas Aquinas (85-66)...the Wildcats have won seven-straight heading into Friday's game vs. Dowling, and are coming off the 11-point win at UDC last Friday...Dyck continues to pace an explosive Daemen offense which continues to lead the ECC in scoring at 86.2 points per game...Dyck, who posted four 30-point games last month, leads the league in scoring individually, averaging 23.5 points per game...in addition, Dyck has dished a team-high 46 assists this season and is hauling in 5.7 rebounds per game which is second to only Mehmetaj who is having a fine season in his own right...Mehmetaj recorded his fifth double-double of the season in the win over UDC, and for the season is averaging a team-high 6.7 rebounds, while adding 16.9 points per game to rank eighth in the league in scoring...additional production is coming from freshman guard Jay Sarkis (7.8 ppg, 2.4 apg, 45% 3pt fg), grad studen tRyan Grandits(6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg), redshirt-freshman guard/forward Deion Hamilton (5.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg) andjunior guard/forward Jesse Lalka (5.0 ppg, 51% 3pt fg)...the Wildcats received votes for the first time this season in the latest version of the D2SIDA East Region poll released on Feb. 1.

DOWLING SCOUTING REPORT (10-9, 6-6 ECC): Dowling is 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 213-154 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...among the returners area 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)...the Golden Lions have hovered around the .500 mark all season long, and they went 4-4 in the month of January...Dowling brings a modest two-game winning streak into Friday's game here, and they've been idle since an 89-87 win at LIU Post last Saturday (Jan. 30)...junior forward Chris Millender erupted for a career-best 39 points in the win over the Pioneers - his third 30-point outing of the season...Millender,a 6-foot-6 junior college transfer from Suffolk Community College, is a true inside-outside threat who's paced the Golden Lions all season...he currently ranks second in the league and 19th nationally in scoring (22.4 ppg), while also leading the ECC and ranking eighth nationally in rebounding (10.9 rpg)...his 11 double-doubles this season also rank eighth among all NCAA Division II players...the big manMaxwell has chipped in by producing 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, giving Dowling arguably the most potent frontcourt in the ECC...together, the pair is accounting for 48-percent of the team's points and the same percentage of their rebounds...Brown leads the league and ranks ninth nationally in assists per game (6.4), helping the Golden Lions rank first in the ECC as a team in assists per game (17.8) and assist/turnover ratio (1.40)...he's also contributing 8.9 points and 3.5 rebounds...additional production is coming from three-point snipers Hickey (10.3 ppg, 41 3pt fgs) and Vincent Abbandola (10.9 ppg, 51 3pt fgs).

THE SERIES VS. DOWLING: Friday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Golden Lions...Daemen owns a 5-0 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...the Wildcats won the first four meetings by an average margin of just 5.3 points before scoring a 97-80 win at Dowling earlier this season...Arif Mehmetaj scored 24 of his career-high 26 points in the first half and Torrence Dyck posted a double-double (21 pts, 10 rebs) to lead Daemen in that one...Chris Millender went for 32 points and 11 boards for Dowling in his first-ever game against the Wildcats...the teams have produced some instant classics as well, 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 in the two matchups last season.

BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT (11-8, 8-3 ECC): 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 262-148 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)...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...the league favorites have overcome a rocky start to the season (2-5 in first seven games) to sit in a second-place tie with Daemen near the top of the ECC standings heading into this weekend (UB plays at Roberts Wesleyan on Friday before facing Daemen on Sunday)...UB has played one of the more difficult schedules in the East Region this year...six of their eight losses have come against teams ranked in the D2SIDA East Region poll at the time of their meetings, and those opponents have combined for an overall record of 89-38 so far this season...the Purple Knights have won six of their last eight games heading into this weekend...they rebounded from a disappointing loss at NYIT last Saturday to score road wins at Queens and Southern Connecticut State earlier this week...Tuesday's non-league win at SCSU came against the No. 2 ranked team in the latest regional poll, and it avenged an earlier home loss to the Owls in UB's second game of the season...balanced scoring has been a staple for UB this season, as they have four players averaging between 14.5 and 13.1 points per game...Jones leads the quartet, averaging 14.5 points per game despite coming off the bench in all but one game this season...Jones is shooting 45-percent from three-point range and his 58 total three-point baskets rank second in the ECC...newcomer Muhammed Ahmed is one of two players to start all 19 games for UB, and is averaging 14.4 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game...Elliott, who played previously at Buffalo's Erie Community College, is next, averaging 13.8 points per game and Rouse has put up 13.1 points per outing...Elliott and Rouse have combined to hit 68 three-point shots...additional production has come from newcomer Montana Mayfield (8.2 ppg) and Asamoah (7.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg)...freshman guard D'vonne Trumbo has made 16 starts and leads UB in assists (60)...as expected, the Purple Knights enter this weekend's action leading the league in total three-pointers made (172) while ranking second in the league three-point field goal percentage (.381)...UB also ranks second in the league in scoring at 83.5 points per game, but defense has been an issue as they rank ninth in points allowed per game (82.2).

THE SERIES VS. BRIDGEPORT: Sunday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Purple Knights...Daemen owns a 3-2 lead in the all-time series which began just two seasons ago when the Wildcats joined the ECC...Daemen is looking for a split of this year's series after suffering a 94-85 loss at UB earlier this season...Devon Elliott scored a then-season-high 25 points and Muhammed Ahmed tossed in 21 to lead UB...Daemen got a combined 52 points from Torrence Dyck (27) and Arif Mehmetaj (25) in the loss...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...Elliott notched 18 points to lead the Purple Knights while Daemen got a game-high 19 points from Jordan Greene in defeat.

SARKIS NAMED ECC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK AGAIN: Freshman guard Jay Sarkis was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for games played Jan. 25-31...Sarkis scored a career-best 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting in Daemen's 100-89 victory at District of Columbia on Jan. 29 in the Wildcats' only game of the week...it was the third time this season that Sarkis has been named the league's Rookie of the Week (November 23-29; December 28-January 3)...Daemen is the only team in the league with multiple players having been selected for the weekly honor, and the Wildcats' four total selections leads the league.

WILDCATS SWEEP WEEKLY HONORS: Recently, Daemen's Arif Mehmetaj and Deion Hamilton swept the weekly ECC honors for games played Jan. 19-24...Mehmetaj was named ECC Player of the Week after averaging 22 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 70-percent from the field in wins over Molloy and Queens...Mehmetaj narrowly missed a double-double vs. Molloy (19 pts, 9 rebs) and netted 25 points, one shy of his career-high, in the win over Queens...it was Mehmetaj's second selection as the league's Player of the Week this season, having previously earned the honor for games played Nov. 9-15...Hamilton was named ECC Rookie of the Week after scoring a career-high 14 points against Queens on perfect shooting from the field (5-for-5) and three-point range (3-for-3)...for the week, he averaged 11.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

INSTANT CLASSIC:Daemen emerged victorious last month against thruway rival Roberts Wesleyan, defeating the host Redhawks 98-96 after trailing by 22 points (86-64) with 6:16 remaining in the second half...Torrence Dyck led a furious rally, scoring 18 of his career-high-tying 35 points in the final six minutes in which Daemen outscored RWC 34-10...employing a suffocating full-court press, the Wildcats held RWC without a field goal for exactly six minutes and forced six critical turnovers which aided the comeback efforts...greenhorn guard Jay Sarkis converted 3-of-4 free throws on consecutive possessions to give the Wildcats its first lead since the score was 8-6 early in the first half...a two-point Wildcat lead was temporarily erased following a layup by RWC's Zack Panebianco which knotted the count at 96-all with 16 seconds to play...that set the stage for Dyck who broke the tie with a game-winning drive and layup with just four seconds remaining, completing Daemen's improbable comeback win while playing in his hometown of Rochester...the win represented the Wildcats' ninth-straight in the series overall with RWC, and their ninth-straight at RWC's Voller Athletic Center...the Wildcats have prevailed in 16 of the last 17 meetings and own a 29-11 edge in the all-time series.

ON A ROLL:Daemen enters this week's home-stand riding a seven-game winning streak with each win coming in ECC play...that gives Daemen the second-best streak at present among all East Coast Conference teams, behind St. Thomas Aquinas' 11-game string...the stretch started with a 94-81 home victory over Mercy on Jan. 9...the Wildcats followed that with three road wins, winning at Roberts Wesleyan (98-96), LIU Post (91-82) and NYIT (83-67), before returning home for wins over Molloy (81-64) and Queens (107-96)...lastly, the Wildcats avenged a December loss to District of Columbia by winning in our nation's capital last Friday (100-89)...looking over a broader stretch, Daemen is 11-3 in their last 14 games after opening the season with one win in their first four outings...offensive production has been the story for Daemen in the last 14 games as the Wildcats are averaging 88.4 points per game in that span, going over the 90-point mark on seven occasions, including six since the dawn of the New Year...the three-straight 90-point games against Mercy, Roberts Wesleyan and LIU Post marked the Wildcats' first such streak since early January of 2014...Daemen is now 51-2 when topping 90 points since the start of the 2009-10 season.

CENTURY MARK: Daemen has hit the 100-point barrier in back-to-back games heading into this weekend's action...that marks the second-straight season in which Daemen has recorded 100 points or more in consecutive games...should Daemen continue that string this weekend, they'll reach the team's longest such streak since opening the 2012-13 season with four-straight 100-point outings...Daemen has topped 100 points three times this season, giving them 19 such offensive outbursts since the start of the 2012-13 season (19-0 record in those games)...the high-water mark of those games was a 117-point game against Fleming College on Oct. 26, 2012.

DYCK SNAGS CONFERENCE AND NATIONAL HONORS: Senior guard/forward Torrence Dyck was named the East Coast Conference and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Division II National Player of the Week after going on a scoring rampage in three Daemen wins during the week of Jan. 11-18...Dyck averaged 30.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game while leading the Wildcats road wins at Roberts Wesleyan, LIU Post and NYIT...the 6-foot-5 senior swingman matched his career-high with 35 points vs. RWC, and added 27 and 30 points, respectively against the Pioneers and Bears...the ECC Player of the Week selection was Dyck's second of the season, having previously earned the honor for games played Dec. 7-13...he also became the second Daemen player in as many years to garner USBWA Division II National Player of the Week honors, joining former Wildcat forward Gerald Beverly who picked up the honor for Jan. 5-11, 2015.

MORE DYCK: Following his recent scoring rampage, Torrence Dyck is now averaging an ECC-best 23.5 points per game this season...that also ranks second among all East Region players (the East Region is comprised of teams in the ECC, CACC and NE-10 Conference) and 11th nationally among all NCAA Division II players...the 6-foot-5 senior also ranks second in the ECC in field goals made (153) and third in both free throws made (86) and attempted (132), and seventh in field goal percentage (.531)...he's scored in double figures in all but one game this season, including 14 games of at least 20 points...hehas reached 30 points in four of his last seven games, and now has six 30-point games in his two-year Daemen career...he's also averaging 25.1 points per game in Daemen's 12 wins this season...he's alsocontributing 5.7 rebounds and a team-best 46 total assists...in 41 career games for the Wildcats, Dyck has totaled 867 points (21.1 ppg)...with nine games remaining in the regular season, he needs to average 14.8 points in those games to top 1,000 points and become just the fourth two-year player in team history to do so, and the first since Russell John totaled 1,061 points from 1990-92.

INJURY BUG: Daemen, which has already been without incumbent starting point guard Supreme Hannah since early December due to an injury, was dealt another major blow when starting shooting guard Nick Petrucelli went down on Jan. 22 vs. Molloy with what appears to be a long-term injury...Petrucelli, who had been inserted into the starting lineup in mid-December in part because of the loss of Hannah, had given the Wildcats a viable third scoring option behind Torrence Dyck and Arif Mehmetaj, averaging 10.8 points per game on 46-percent shooting in his 12 games as a starter...if Hannah and Petrucelli wind up missing the remainder of the season, which is the most likely scenario, the Wildcats will have lost a combined 34 games from two of its top backcourt players who were combining to post 21.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.

FANTASTIC FROSH: As the season has progressed, we've seen coach Mike MacDonald increasingly turn to a trio of freshmen who have made impacts in their rookie seasons...6-foot-1 point guard Jay Sarkis has made 15 consecutive starts, the most starts for a Daemen freshman since Casey Sheehan made 21 during the 2010-11 season (ironically, both Sarkis and Sheehan are products of Greece Athena High School)...he's notched five double-figure scoring games, and for the season is averaging 7.8 points and 2.4 assists per game, while shooting 51-percent from the field and 45-percent from three-point range...6-foot-4 guard/forward Deion Hamilton, whose insertion into the starting lineup seven games ago coincides with Daemen's recent winning streak, has increased his production of late...afterplaying a total of 44 minutes in the team's first 11 games, Hamilton has averaged 9.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocked shots in 22.6 minutes per game since entering the top five of MacDonald's rotation...lastly, 6-foot-1 guard Darius Garvin was propelled into the starting lineup for the first time on Jan. 24 vs. over Queens, filling in for the injured Nick Petrucelli...Garvin responded with 11 points and four assists in 33 minutes, by far his most extensive action of the season at that point...all three freshmen posted career-highs for points in Daemen's win last week at District of Columbia (Sarkis - 19; Hamilton - 16; Garvin -12).

ECC TOURNEY HUNT: An early look at the race for the six ECC Tournament berths has Daemen in prime position with still nine games remaining on the docket...Daemen currently sits in a second-place tie in the league standings...the ECC awards berths to the top six teams in the final regular season standings, with the top two seeds earning byes into the semifinal round...if the season ended today, Daemen would lose a tie-breaker to Bridgeport, making the Wildcats to No. 3 seed, giving them a home game against the No. 6 seed, which at this point would be Mercy...the ECC Tournament semifinals and finals will be played at UDC, regardless of the seeding earned by the participants...this season marks the first that Daemen is eligible to qualify for an ECC Tournament berth...Daemen was in position in each of the last two years to earn a berth had they been eligible.

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 16-4 in February home games dating back to the 2009-10 season.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen gets a shot at redemption when the Wildcats visit league-leading St. Thomas Aquinas next Thursday, Feb. 11...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

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

#24 Nick Petrucelli: G; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#25 Deion Hamilton: G/F; 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

#32 Darius Garvin: 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

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

#24 Nick Petrucelli
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: G

#25 Deion Hamilton
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman
: G/F

#32 Darius Garvin
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G