| THE LEAD |
| The Daemen College men's basketball team hits the road for the first time since early December this week, opening up a two-game trip to the New York City metropolitan area by facing Queens College on Wednesday...Daemen, which went 8-4 in true road games last season, is just 1-4 away from Lumsden Gymnasium this time around...the Wildcats will be seeking their first ECC road win of the season, and their first win at QC's Fitzgerald Gymnasium since the 2013-14 season. |
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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, Jan. 11 |
Time:Â
5:30 p.m. |
Location:Â
Fitzgerald Gymnasium - Flushing, N.Y. |
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| Daemen Roster |
Queens Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
Queens Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
Queens 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 |
| Queens Twitter: |
@QCKnights |
| 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 (9-5, 3-3 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 has won three straight ECC games, and four of its last five overall, dating back to mid-December...the Wildcats' only loss in that span was a three-point defeat (67-64) to regionally-ranked St. Rose in a non-league matchup on Dec. 31...recent wins have come over ECC foes Mercy (76-64) and #23 St. Thomas Aquinas (67-64) with the latter being Daemen's first-ever defeat of a nationally-ranked opponent at the Division II level...Hannah scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the final 15 minutes, helping Daemen rally from a nine-point deficit for the win over STAC...Hannah, who scored a career-high 29 points in an overtime loss at District of Columbia last month, leads the team in scoring (14.1 ppg) and assists (47)...Mehmetaj scored 19 points in last week's win over Mercy, and is producing 12.4 points and a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game...Hamilton is contributing 11.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game...Redband rounds out the Wildcats' double-figure scorers at 11.0 points per game...he leads the team and tied for third in the league with 37 three-pointers while shooting 44 percent from deep...additional production is coming from sophomore guard Darius Garvin (7.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, team-high 20 steals), senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (7.0 ppg, 1.9 apg) and redshirt-junior forward Aleks Miljenovic (6.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg)...the Wildcats enter Wednesday's game as one of the premier defensive teams in the ECC this season...they lead the lead in scoring defense, allowing just 68.8 points per game, while also ranking in the league's top-two teams in field goal percentage defense (.421) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.316)...offensively, the three-point shot continues to play a major role for the Wildcats...they rank second in the league in three-point attempts (355) and first in total three-pointers made (129) and three-pointers made per game (9.2)...Daemen has also been efficient in terms of taking care of the ball, leading the league in fewest turnovers per game (12.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.15). |
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| QUEENS SCOUTING REPORT (7-7, 4-3 ECC) |
| Queens is led by first-year head coach Matt Collier who was named the 14th coach in team history last June...Collier, who took the job after a six-year stint as an assistant at Division I Drexel, is hoping to lead Queens back to the ECC Tournament for the first time since the 2013-14 season...to do so, Collier figures to lean heavily on the seven returners from QC's 2015-16 team which went 11-14 overall and 9-11 in ECC play...the Knights' returners are headlined by senior wing Tyree White, a second-team All-ECC pick and the ECC Defensive Player of the Year last season...White averaged 16.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while also leading the ECC in total steals (83) last season...also back is double-figure scorer Diego Maldonado (12.0 ppg)...Queens was picked to finish in a tie for seventh place according to the ECC preseason poll...QC has essentially alternated wins and losses all season, having not won more than two games in a row all year...the Knights are owners of a 72-56 home win over league-leading District of Columbia (8-6, 5-1 ECC) back on Dec. 10...QC has gone 2-2 since then with all four contests coming on the road...the Knights knocked off Bridgeport (84-75) last Wednesday, before falling at league favorite St. Thomas Aquinas (95-84) on Saturday...White has picked up right where he left off, leading the team in minutes (31.8), scoring (16.7), rebounding (10.1), assists (3.4) and steals (1.1) per game...he ranks among the ECC's leaders in scoring (7th), assists (8th), rebounding (3rd), made free throws (3rd) and field goal percentage (5th)...White's seven double-doubles rank 15th in the country...he has scored in double figures in all 14 games this season, including a 24-point outing in the loss to St. Thomas Aquinas last week...Maldonado scored 35 points in an 76-71 overtime win at Lincoln (Pa.) on Nov. 22...he is averaging 14.5 points per game, and his 37 three-pointers lead the team while also ranking tied for third in the league...fellow returner Kyheim Chaplin is chipping in 11.5 points per game...newcomers Isaac Grant (8.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and Tyrone Hall (8.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg) have also produced...Queens enters Wednesday's game tied with Daemen for the league lead in total three-pointers (129) and three-pointers per game (9.2), while also ranking second in three-point field goal percentage (.366)...although the Knights rank fifth in the ECC in scoring at 79.1 points per game, they also rank seventh in scoring defense, allowing 81.4 points per game to their opponents...just three of QC's 14 games this season have been at home where their unbeaten in their last five dating back to the end of the 2015-16 season. |
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| DAEMEN VS. QUEENS: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time:Â Daemen leads the all-time series 5-2 |
| Streak: Lost 1 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: Queens 71, Daemen 56 | Feb. 28, 2016 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: Tyree White posted a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) in leading Queens to a win in their 2015-16 season finale...Daemen, which had already secured the No. 2 seed in the ECC Tournament, elected to rest leading scorer Torrence Dyck...Queens limited Daemen to just 30.2 percent shooting in the contest, leading to the Wildcats' second-lowest point total of the season...Jaleo Wilkes was the lone Daemen player to reach double figures with 13 points. |
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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? |
| Daemen is 3-1 in Wednesday games this season. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen concludes the NYC trip by facing Molloy College on Saturday, Jan. 14. |
