| THE LEAD |
| Daemen College and Roberts Wesleyan College renew the men's basketball version of the Thruway Rivalry on Wednesday evening when the Redhawks make their annual trek to Lumsden Gymnasium...Daemen has dominated the series of late, winning 10 consecutive meetings, and 17 of the last 18 dating back to the 2007-08 season...Wednesday's game marks the first of three straight for Daemen, and it is the Wildcats' final contests in the first round of East Coast Conference play. |
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
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Date:
Wednesday, Jan. 18 |
Time:Â
8 p.m. |
Location:Â
Lumsden Gymnasium - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| Daemen Roster |
Roberts Wesleyan Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
Roberts Wesleyan Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
Roberts Wesleyan Stats |
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| LIVE STATS |
LIVE VIDEO |
| LIVE AUDIO (WYSL-ROCHESTER)Â Â |
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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 |
| Roberts Wesleyan Twitter: |
@RWCREDHAWKS |
| 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 (10-6, 4-4 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 enters Wednesday's contest having won five of their last seven games dating back to mid-December...Daemen ran its ECC winning streak to four straight with a 75-62 win at Queens on Jan. 11...that streak was snapped in gut-wrenching fashion as the Wildcats surrendered an old-fashioned three-point play with 0.5 seconds remaining in a 78-75 loss at Molloy this past Saturday...Mehmetaj put together his best two-game stretch of the season last week, averaging 23.5 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 61.5 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from three-point range...in the loss to Molloy, he posted his second double-double of the season, establishing a new season-high for rebounds (14) while matching his season-high for points (26)...in the win at Queens, Mehmetaj scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, helping Daemen erase a three-point halftime deficit with a 33-13 run over the first 12 minutes of the second half...the recent up-swing in production has Mehmetaj leading the team in scoring (14.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg)...Hannah, who scored a career-high 29 points in an overtime loss at District of Columbia last month, is right behind in the scoring column (14.0 ppg), and he leads the team in assists (57)...Mehmetaj and Hannah rank 10th and 11th, respectively, among the ECC's scoring leaders...Hamilton, who has come off the bench in six straight games, is contributing 11.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game...Redband rounds out the Wildcats' double-figure scorers at 10.9 points per game, ranking first among all ECC freshmen...he leads the team is tied for second in the league with 44 three-pointers while shooting 44.4 percent from deep...additional production is coming from sophomore guard Darius Garvin (7.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, team-high 23 steals), senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (6.9 ppg, 1.8 apg) and redshirt-junior forward Aleks Miljenovic (6.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg)...redshirt-senior guard/forward Jesse Lalka is averaging 7.0 points and shooting 50 percent from three-point range since being inserted into the starting lineup seven games ago...Daemen continues to be one of the top defensive teams in the league this season...the Wildcats have held opponents below 70 points in nine games this season, going 8-1 in those contests...Daemen leads the ECC in scoring defense, allowing just 68.9 points per game, while also ranking in the league's top-two teams in field goal percentage defense (.424) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.314)...offensively, the three-point shot continues to play a major role for the Wildcats...they lead the league in total three-pointers made (153) and attempted (413), as well as three-pointers made per game (9.6)...shooting 37 percent from long distance as a team ranks the Wildcats third in the ECC...Daemen has also been efficient in terms of taking care of the ball, leading the league in fewest turnovers per game (12.0) and assist-turnover ratio (1.2). |
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| ROBERTS WESLEYAN SCOUTING REPORT (2-13, 1-6Â ECC) |
| The Redhawks are led by 16th-year head coach Rob McCoy, the longest tenured and most accomplished coach in team history with 188 wins under his belt...RWC returns six players from its 2015-16 roster which achieved an 8-18 overall record and a 5-15 mark in ECC play...gone from that team is do-it-all forward Tyrel Dixon, a third-team All-ECC pick last season, who ended a stellar four-year career with 1,435 points, 725 rebounds, 295 assists and 175 steals...among the returners are a pair of starters in sophomore guard Zack Panebianco and junior center Malik Dare, as well as sharp-shooting sub Quinn Carey...together, Panebianco and Carey made up the highest scoring freshmen tandem in the league last year, averaging 12.0 and 10.5 points per game, respectively....Carey led the team and ranked second in the ECC with 79 three-point field goals, while Panebianco knocked down 54 of his own...Dare, a 6-foot-5 wide-body, chipped in with 10.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last year...among the team's nine newcomers is junior guard Tristan Brown, a transfer from Dowling which shut its doors over the summer...Brown led the league in total assists (160) last season, while also ranking second in assists per game (5.9) and assist-turnover ratio (2.7), and fifth in total steals (54)...the Redhawks were picked 10th in the ECC preseason poll...tight games have been the norm for RWC this season with nine of their 15 contests being decided by eight points or less...RWC is just 2-7 in those contests...after opening the season with 10 straight losses, the Redhawks are 2-3 over their last five games...they got off the proverbial schneid with a 74-69 win at defending PSAC champ Mercyhurst on Dec. 19...the Redhawks later picked up their first league win of the season with a 71-63 defeat of Mercy on Jan. 4...RWC has lost two straight ECC losses heading into Wednesday's game with Daemen, falling at LIU Post (86-64) on Jan. 7 and at home to NYIT (85-75) on Jan. 14...Panebianco leads a quartet of double-figure scorers, producing 13.4 points per game while also leading the Redhawks in minutes (30.1 mpg)...after struggling out of the gate with just one double-figure scoring game in RWC's first six contests, Panebianco has hit for at least 13 points in eight of the last nine...he scored a season-high 27 points in a loss to Slippery Rock on Dec. 18...Carey has been a part-time starter and is producing 12.4 points per game...he is tied for second in the league with 44 three-pointers, while taking the third-most attempts (118) of anyone in the league...Dare (11.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and newcomer Manny Joseph (11.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg) round out the Redhawks' double-figure scorers...Dare ranks third in the ECC in field goal percentage (59.8)...additional production is coming from Brown (5.3 ppg, team-high 42 assists), freshman guard Isaiah Lewis (9.3 ppg, 41.7 percent thee-point shooting) and sophomore wing Dwayne Roberts (5.3 ppg)...the Redhawks will enter Wednesday's contest generating 23.9 free throw attempts per game, good for second in the league, but they rank last in free throw percentage (60.7)...defense has been an issue for RWC this season as they've surrendered 80 or more points in 10 games, going 0-10 in those outings...the Redhawks rank ninth in the ECC in both scoring defense (83.9 ppg allowed) and field goal percentage defense (48.9). |
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| DAEMEN VS. ROBERTS WESLEYAN: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time:Â Daemen leads the all-time series 32-12 |
| Streak: Won 10 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: Daemen 96, Roberts Wesleyan 88 | Feb. 17, 2016 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: Daemen rallied from an eight-point deficit with 12 minutes to play in picking up their 10th straight win in the series...the win clinched Daemen's first-ever East Coast Conference Tournament berth...Rochester native Deion Hamilton scored a career-high 24 points and fellow Rochestonian Torrence Dyck added 23 in tormenting the Rochester-based Redhawks...graduate student Ryan Grandits chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes of action in the second half alone to help spark the Wildcats to victory. |
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| HOME SWEET HOME |
| Daemen is enjoying its home cooking once again this season, going 8-1 at Lumsden Gymnasium thus far...a win on Wednesday will bring Daemen within one home victory of double figures for the fifth time in the last six seasons...the Wildcats are outscoring their opponents by 10.3 points per game at home this season, with just two games being decided by less than 10 points...one of the ECC's top defensive teams this season, Daemen is allowing just 63.6 points per game to their opponents in home games...the Wildcats are 64-9 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season. |
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| DOWN GO THE CHAMPS |
| On Jan. 4, Daemen picked up a 67-64 win over St. Thomas Aquinas, the defending ECC regular season and tournament champions...the Spartans, who return 11 players and all five starters from their 2015-16 team which went 27-5 overall, came into the contest ranked No. 23 in the country and the Wildcat victory marked their first-ever against a nationally-ranked opponent at the NCAA Division II level...the game was also a rematch of last season's ECC Tournament finals, and it snapped Daemen's five-game slide in the all-time series...the contest featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes...Supreme Hannah scored 13 of his 15 points in the final 15 minutes of the game, helping Daemen rally from a nine-point second-half deficit...Deion Hamilton added 15 points as well, and Jaleo Wilkes scored 10 points...the Hamilton-Wilkes duo helped the Wildcats to a 31-16 advantage in points off the bench...a bucket by senior big man Alex Borges at the 8:08 mark of the second half ignited the decisive 11-2 spurt that gave the Wildcats control of the game, turning a 53-51 deficit into a 62-55 lead. |
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| LET IT FLY |
| Since Mike MacDonald took the reins of the Daemen program, the three-point shot has become an increasingly important weapon in the Wildcats' offensive arsenal...Daemen presently leads the ECC in total three-pointers made (153) and attempted (413), as well as three-pointers made per game (9.6)...the Wildcats finished fifth in the league in three-pointers made per game (8.1) in MacDonald's first season on the Daemen bench (2014-15), and second last season (8.3)...the Wildcats have hit double-figure triples in seven games this season, including the last three in a row, posting a 5-2 record in those outings...Daemen has made at least 10 three-pointers in 26 games during MacDonald's tenure...the high-water mark in those games is 15 made three-pointers which has been accomplished twice - Feb. 5, 2016 in a 106-102 win over Dowling, and Nov. 23, 2016 in a 90-79 win at Edinboro. |
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| THE ARIF FACTOR |
| With a pair of 20-point games last week, redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj has now recorded 12 games of at least 20 points in his Daemen career...the Wildcats are 8-4 when Mehmetaj reaches 20 points...that includes a 2-1 record this season...Mehmetaj scored a season-high 26 points in his season debut, a 90-79 road win at Edinboro on Nov. 23, and matched that total in last Saturday's 78-75 loss at Molloy...it's been a bit of an up-and-down season to date for Mehmetaj, the Wildcats' top returner from last season when he averaged 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game to earn second-team All-ECC honors...he has knocked down multiple three-pointers in four of the last five games, and is averaging 17.5 points in four games this month...over the course of his Daemen career, Mehmetaj is averaging 14.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in 45 games played. |
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| UNDER THE RADAR |
| Redshirt-senior guard Supreme Hannah has quietly put together one of the best stretches of his career recently...Hannah has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games - the longest streak of his career...it dates back to his career-high 29-point outing against District of Columbia on Dec. 3...he was key in the Wildcats' 67-64 win over nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas earlier this month, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the final 15 minutes of the contest, helping Daemen rally from a nine-point deficit...he added 15 points in the road win at Queens last week, helping Daemen snap a two-game slide in games at Fitzgerald Gymnasium...Hannah, who was granted a medical redshirt after his 2015-16 season ended just four games in due to injury, ranks second on the team (and 11th in the league) in scoring (14.0 ppg)...he also leads the team and ranks fifth in the league in total assists (57)...Hannah opened this season by earning MVP honors at the ECC-CACC Challenge where he led Daemen to wins over Caldwell and Dominican...for his career, Hannah has appeared in 95 games, including 53 starts, and has totaled 721 points and 241 assists...he's currently 29 assists shy of moving into the top-10 all-time at Daemen. |
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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's 10-game winning streak against Roberts Wesleyan is the Wildcats' second-longest active winning streak against a single opponent...Daemen has won 16 straight contests and owns a 28-2 all-time record against Houghton College...the two former American Mideast Conference foes have not met since the 2011-12 season. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen's three-game home-stand continues with league-leading University of the District of Columbia coming to town for a Saturday matinee affair (Jan. 21)...tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. |
