| THE LEAD |
| The Daemen College men's basketball team returns to East Coast Conference play this week, welcoming Mercy College and nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College to Lumsden Gymnasium...the Wildcats will be looking for a return to the win column after suffering their first home defeat of the season to regionally-ranked College of St. Rose this past Saturday. |
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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:
Monday, Jan. 2 |
Time:Â
7:00 p.m. |
Location:Â
Lumsden Gymnasium - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| Daemen Roster |
Mercy Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
Mercy Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
Mercy Stats |
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| LIVE STATS |
LIVE VIDEO |
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      VS     |
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Date:
Wednesday, Jan. 4 |
Time:Â
7:00 p.m. |
Location:Â
Lumsden Gymnasium - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| Daemen Roster |
St. Thomas Aquinas Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
St. Thomas Aquinas Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
St. Thomas Aquinas Stats |
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| LIVE STATS |
LIVE VIDEO |
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| EAST COAST CONFERENCE WEBSITE |
EAST COAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS |
EAST REGION INSIDERS WEBSITE |
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| SOCIAL MEDIA |
| Daemen Twitter:Â |
@DaemenAthletics, @DaemenMBB |
| Daemen Hashtags:Â |
#DCWildcatNation, #WNYsD2Team, #LiveBreatheDaemen, #beFIERCE |
| Mercy Twitter: |
@MercyMavericks |
| St. Thomas Aquinas Twitter: |
@STACSpartans |
| East Coast Conference Twitter: |
@ECCSports |
| East Region Basketball Insiders Twitter: |
@D2EastHoops |
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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 (7-5, 1-3 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...Daemen, which got off to its first 5-0 start since the 2012-13 season, snapped a four-game slide with an 88-74 defeat of conference foe NYIT on Dec. 14 and added a 92-69 non-league victory over St. Michael's on Dec. 19...the Wildcats are coming off their first home loss of the season, a 67-64 decision against St. Rose, the No. 4 ranked team in the East Region, on New Year's Eve...Redband canned 4-of-6 from three-point range and scored a team-high 14 points in the loss to St. Rose...he leads the team with 34 three-pointers and is shooting 45.3 percent from long distance which ranks seventh in the league...through the first 12 games of the season, Hannah leads the team in scoring (14.4 ppg) and assists (44)...he poured in a career-high 29 points in an overtime 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 12.6 points and a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game...Hamilton, who missed the game against NYIT, is contributing 11.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game...Redband rounds out the Wildcats' double-figure scorers at 11.7 points per game...additional production is coming from sophomore guard Darius Garvin (7.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, team-high 17 steals), redshirt-junior forward Aleks Miljenovic (6.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (6.8 ppg, 2.1 apg)...the Wildcats enter this week's games as one of the premier defensive teams in the ECC this season...they lead the lead in scoring defense, allowing just 69.6 points per game, while also ranking in the league's top-two teams in field goal percentage defense (.419) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.312). |
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| MERCY SCOUTING REPORT (2-10, 0-4 ECC) |
| Mercy is led by Dr. Jody King who is in his third season at the helm, having guided the Mavericks to a 23-43 record in his tenure to date...last season, Dr. King led the Mavericks to a 13-15 record and the program's first postseason appearance since the 2000-01 season, earning the No. 6 seed to the ECC Tournament...they promptly upset third-seeded District of Columbia for the program's first-ever postseason win, advancing to the semifinal round where their season came to an end against Daemen...the Mavericks return just two players from their 2015-16 team...6-foot-6, 260-pound center William Robinson headlines the returners after averaging 12.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last season...also back is senior guard Raphael Jennings who made 23 starts last season while shooting 48.6 percent from three-point range (6.0 ppg)...among Mercy's eight newcomers is a pair of experienced transfers in 5-foot-11 guard Ryan Hickey and 6-foot-6 wing Marko Kozul...Hickey totaled 134 three-point field goals in three seasons at the now-closed Dowling College...last season, he finished seventh in the ECC with 59 three-pointers and averaged 10.5 points per game...Kozul transferred in from Felician College where he averaged 10.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 2015-16...Mercy was picked sixth in the ECC preseason poll...the Mavericks are off to a rocky start this season with just two wins in 12 contests, playing a combined nine road/neutral site games...they snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 68-57 non-league win at Georgian Court on Dec. 8...home ECC losses to LIU Post (62-53) and Molloy (86-65) followed, and the Mavs have been idle since Dec. 17...Jennings (11.7 ppg, team-high 47 assists), Hickey (11.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, team-high 30 three-pointers) and Robinson (11.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) have led the way thus far...Jennings scored a season-high 24 points vs. New Haven on Nov. 11, but has gone cold of late (20.8 percent shooting, 5.3 ppg in his last four games)...Hickey has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games, and has made at least two shots from long distance in all but three games this season...he shot 5-for-10 from long distance and totaled a season-high 17 points in an 89-71 win over St. Michael's on Nov. 12...Robinson has posted two double-doubles, including a monster outing (29 points, 12 rebounds) in the recent loss to LIU Post...additional production has come from Kozul (8.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Jefferson Francois (6.3 ppg, 63.8 percent field goal shooting) and Kelvin Howard (5.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg)...Mercy enters Monday's game ranked last in the league in scoring (68.7 ppg) and field goal percentage (39.4). |
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| DAEMEN VS. MERCY: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time:Â Daemen leads the all-time series 7-0 |
| Streak: Won 7 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: Daemen 103, Mercy 102 (OT) | ECC Tournament Semifinals | March 5, 2016 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: Jay Sarkis drove and scored with 35 seconds left in overtime and Daemen survived three desperation attempts in the waning seconds to defeat Mercy in the ECC Tournament semifinals...Torrence Dyck posted his seventh double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds) of the season in the win...Deion Hamilton and Ryan Grandits chipped in with 18 points apiece. |
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| ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SCOUTING REPORT (10-3, 5-1 ECC) |
| Tobin Anderson is back for his fourth season on the St. Thomas Aquinas bench...since coming to the Spartans, Anderson has led the program to unprecedented heights, posting a 73-33 record to date (.689 winning percentage)...STAC has advanced to the ECC Tournament finals in each of Anderson's first three seasons, finally breaking through last season with an 80-63 win over Daemen for the program's first-ever ECC championship...2015-16 was a magical season for the Spartans, finishing at 27-5 overall (18-2 in ECC play)...STAC saw its 21-game winning streak come to an end in the second round of the NCAA Division II East Regional vs. St. Anselm...the Spartans return 11 players, including all five starters from their 2015-16 team...reigning ECC Player of the Year Justin Reyes headlines the list of returners...Reyes posted 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season, and was named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year prior to this season...the Spartan roster also features two-time first-team All-ECC pick Chaz Watler...the 6-foot-2 senior averaged 15.9 points and 3.3 assists per game last season, and was named the Most Outstanding Player at the ECC Tournament...Shaquille McFarlan (10.6 ppg), James Mitchell (6.7 ppg, 3.0 apg), Jules de Courtenay (5.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and the 2015-16 ECC Rookie of the Year Jonathan Lawton (9.3 ppg, 49 percent three-point field goal shooting) also return...with so much experience returning, the Spartans were the unanimous pick to repeat as league champs according to the ECC preseason poll...the Spartans have been ranked atop the D2SIDA East Region media poll all season long, and they are presently ranked eighth in the latest D2SIDAÂ national poll, as well as ninth in the NABC national poll...STAC rattled off 10 straight wins to start the season, running their regular season winning streak to 28 straight, before District of Columbia knocked them off (85-80) on Dec. 17...two additional losses have followed in recent days as the Spartans have fell in non-league matchups with U. Sciences (76-67) and Bloomfield (83-72)...Reyes leads the team and ranks second in the league in scoring (20.8 ppg) while also producing 9.7 boards per contest...he also ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (.616), and he matched his season-high with 27 points in the loss at U. Sciences last week...Lawton is shooting a league-best 49.2 percent from three-point range while upping his production to 13.5 points per game this season...Watler rounds out the Spartans' double-figure scorers at 13.0 points per game while also leading in assists (3.6 apg)...Mitchell (9.8 ppg, 3.0 apg), McFarlan (8.3 ppg) and de Courtenay (6.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) have also produced...pressure defense has become a staple for the Spartans, and they rank third in the country in steals per game (11.3) as well as seventh in turnovers forced per game (19.7)...with so many steals leading to easy buckets, STAC leads the league in field goal percentage (.504). |
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| DAEMEN VS. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time: STAC leads the all-time series 9-2 |
| Streak: Lost 5 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: STAC 80, Daemen 63 | ECC Tournament Finals | March 6, 2016 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: ECC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Chaz Watler scored 20 points and added seven rebounds to lead the Spartans to their first-ever ECC championship...ECC Player of the Year Justin Reyes wasn't too shabby either, posting 19 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks...Daemen got a game-high 22 points from Torrence Dyck and a double-double from Arif Mehmetaj (16 points, 11 rebounds), but the Wildcats' first-ever postseason appearance at the Division II level ended short of capturing the league title. |
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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 47-24 mark. |
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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? |
| Wednesday's game vs. St. Thomas Aquinas will be Daemen's second against a nationally-ranked opponent since joining the East Coast Conference in 2013-14...Daemen's last game against a nationally-ranked team was a 78-51 loss to No. 9 Indianapolis on Dec. 18, 2014 at the Trip Sports Cruzin' Classic in Miami Shores, Fla. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen plays two straight games in the New York City metro area next week, visiting Queens College (Jan. 11) and Molloy College (Jan. 14) for a pair of ECC road contests. |
