GAME INFORMATION
Daemen Wildcats (3-2, 0-0 ECC) vs. Edinboro Fighting Scots (4-0, 2-0 PSAC)
Tuesday, Nov. 28 | 8 p.m. | Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
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JUMP BALL
Daemen plays host to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference affiliate Edinboro for a Tuesday night non-conference tilt. It'll mark the third-straight season that the Wildcats and Fighting Scots have met. Daemen has won each of the previous two meetings, including a 90-79 win on the road last season which was head coach Mike MacDonald's 300th career victory. Daemen is winless (0-2) this season against PSAC opponents, and Edinboro will enter the contest with an unblemished 4-0 record.
RETURN OF THE MAC
Mike MacDonald returns to the bench for his fourth season as Daemen's head coach, and his 21st season overall as a collegiate head coach...in his first three seasons roaming the Daemen sidelines, MacDonald led the Wildcats to a 59-29 overall record...the Wildcats have won at least 19 games in each of MacDonald's three seasons, and the team's 59 victories in that span are the second most among all NCAA Division II programs in New York State...before coming to 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 opened the 2017-18 season with a career record of 315-255.
HAM IT UP
Redshirt junior guard/forward Deion Hamilton headlines Daemen's returning players. Hamilton established himself as one the premier sixth men in the ECC last season, averaging 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while leading Daemen in field goal percentage (.514). After posting nine double-figure scoring games in his redshirt freshman season, Hamilton erupted for 21 such outings last year, and Daemen went 14-2 in games that Hamilton shot 50 percent or better from the field. Hamilton has started all five games so far this season, and he's producing 13.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He leads the team in free throws made (17) and attempted (29). Hamilton earned MVP honors at the ECC-CACC Challenge after leading Daemen to wins over Felician and Nyack.
REDBAND FOR THREE
Redshirt sophomore forward Jeff Redband established himself as one of the preeminent three-point shooters in the ECC last season. For the season, Redband canned 68-of-151 three-point attempts becoming the first Daemen freshman with more than 50 triples since Brian Montanaro had 70 in 2002-03. A four-time ECC Rookie of the Week honoree, Redband ranked third among all ECC players in total three-point baskets, and fifth in three-point field percentage (.450). He made at least one three-pointer in 23 games, and knocked down multiple threes in 17 contests. Appearing in all 28 games while making 27 starts, Redband contributed 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Redband shook off a slow start to the 2017-18 season (three three-pointers in first four games) to knock down five triples and total 15 points in a three-point loss at Slippery Rock on Nov. 26.
SHINING STAR-KIS
Redshirt sophomore guard Jay Sarkis has made a successful return to the lineup after missing all of last season with an injury. Sarkis, who quarterbacked the Wildcats to an appearance in the ECC Tournament finals as a freshman in 2015-16, was a four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection as he appeared in all 29 games while making 26 starts, and averaging 8.5 points and 2.3 assists per game that season. Through the first five games this season, Sarkis is producing 10.6 points and a team-best 3.8 assists per game. He scored a career-high 20 points in Daemen's 79-73 win over Wilmington on Nov. 18, and matched his career-high with six assists in an 80-77 loss at Slippery Rock on Nov. 26.
GARV-ELOUS
With injuries to key backcourt players in each of the last two seasons, Daemen has become reliant on the steady play of junior guard Darius Garvin who appeared in 58 of a possible 59 games while making 40 starts in his freshman and sophomore seasons. Last season, Garvin upped his statistical numbers in nearly every category, including minutes per game (from 17.9 as a freshman to 27.4 as a sophomore), points per game (from 4.8 to 7.6), rebounds per game (from 2.8 to 4.4) and assists per game (from 1.1 to 1.8). Garvin has started all five contests so far this season, and he is contributing 6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Redshirt freshman center Andrew Sischo has his collegiate career off to a fast start with double-figure scoring in four of Daemen's five games. The 6-foot-9 Sischo is averaging team-highs of 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while seeing just 16.8 minutes per game off the bench. Sischo poured in 24 points and grabbed nine boards in a recent road loss at Slippery Rock. He's the first Daemen freshman with four double-figure scoring games in the month of November since Gerald Beverly did so in the 2011-12 season.
BRING YOUR "A" GAME
Redshirt senior forward Aleks Miljenovic is chipping in with 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this season. Miljenovic opened the year with back-to-back double-figure scoring games in wins over Felician and Nyack en route to earning all-tournament team honors at the ECC-CACC Challenge for the second-straight season. His 16 points and nine rebounds in the win over Felician led the team.
STARTING 1-0
Daemen's season-opening 62-57 win over Felician at the ECC-CACC Challenge was the Wildcats' 16th consecutive win in a regular season opener, a streak that dates back to the 2002-03 season. The wins in that span have come over 14 different opponents. Fisher (Mass.) and Wilfrid Laurier (Ont.) are the only opponents Daemen has defeated twice in season openers during the streak. The Wildcats' average margin of victory during the streak is an astonishing 24.4 points per game. The five-point win over Felician was Daemen's closest margin of victory in a season opener since beginning to play a full Division II schedule; the Wildcats' average margin of victory in the four previous season openers as a Division II institution was 22.3 points per game. Just one game in the streak prior to the win over Felician - a 68-65 final over Toronto in 2011 - had been decided by single digits. Daemen has gone over 100 points in three of the last six season openers; the high-water mark came in 2013 when they downed Ohio Valley 111-90. Last season opened with a 75-64 dispatching of Caldwell which put the Wildcats en route to their first 5-0 start to a season since 2012-13. Daemen's last loss in a season opener came at the Spring Hill College (Ala.) Tournament against the hosts on Nov. 2, 2001, falling 75-35.
CAN'T BREAK THE ROCK
Daemen is coming off an 80-77 loss at Slippery Rock this past Sunday, Nov. 26. The Wildcats trailed by 10 with just under a minute to play, but rallied and made it a one-possession game with a chance to tie in the final seconds. Andrew Sischo established new career-highs for points (24), rebounds (9), blocks (2), steals (2) and minutes played (28) in the loss.
DEFENDING THE DEN
Daemen posted a 14-2 record at the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium last season, matching the program record for home wins in a season last achieved in 1999-2000. Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 73-11 at Lumsden Gymnasium (.869 winning percentage).
EDINBORO SCOUTING REPORT
Edinboro is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and the Fighting Scots are led by head coach Pat Cleary who is now in his 19th season with the program, including the last five as its head coach. Cleary has led EU to a 51-58 record in his head coaching tenure to date. The Fighting Scots, who were picked fifth in the PSAC West preseason poll, return five players (two starters) from their 2016-17 team which went 8-18 overall and 6-16 in PSAC play. Headlining the team's returners is senior guard Jaymon Mason who earned All-PSAC West, All-Atlantic Region and honorable mention All-America honors last season when he averaged 23.0 points per game, second best in the PSAC, as well as 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. The Fighting Scots have won all four of their games so far this season, including an 88-86 victory over nationally-ranked (#8) Shippensburg on Nov. 19. EU is coming off a 70-66 win over Lake Erie this past Saturday, Nov. 25. Tuesday's game marks EU's first road contest of the season. Newcomer Keshawn Liggins, a 6-foot-5 senior guard/forward with previous Division I playing experience (Idaho State), has made an immediate impact. Liggins has played the full 40 minutes in all four of EU's games and is producing team-highs of 24.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Junior college transfer Anthony Coleman, a 6-foot-3 guard, is averaging 18.0 points per game; he leads the team with 12 three-point field goals, eight of which came in the win over Shippensburg when he totaled 30 points. Mason's numbers are a little more pedestrian, but still solid at 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists while seeing 35.0 minutes per game. Senior forward Mike Beck (8.8 ppg) has also chipped in.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Edinboro: 2-0
Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: Daemen 90, Edinboro 79 | Nov. 23, 2016 | Edinboro, Pa.
More Details
PSAC PESTS
Since the 2008-09 season, Daemen is just 5-9 against PSAC opponents. Wins in that stretch have come over Gannon, Mercyhurst, Edinboro (twice) and Slippery Rock.
DID YOU KNOW?
Since the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 25-15 in non-conference games played in the month of November, including a 17-3 mark at home. Daemen has dropped just two of their last 11 non-conference home games dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season.
UP NEXT
Daemen plays its first game in the state of Ohio since the 2011-12 season when visiting Lake Erie this Saturday, Dec. 2.
