GAME INFORMATION
Daemen Wildcats (4-2, 0-0 ECC) vs. Lake Erie Storm (3-3, 0-0 GMAC)
Saturday, Dec. 2 | 3 p.m. | Painesville, Ohio | Osborne Family Athletic & Wellness Center
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JUMP BALL
Daemen plays its second road game of the season when visiting Lake Erie for a Saturday afternoon affair. It'll be the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and Storm, as well as Daemen's first contest in the state of Ohio since Feb. 4, 2012.
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 six games so far this season, and he's producing a team-high 14.0 points along with 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He leads the team in free throws made (20) and attempted (36). 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. He's started all six games this season and is contributing 9.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
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 six games this season, Sarkis is producing 11.2 points and a team-best 3.5 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 six contests so far this season, and he is contributing 6.7 points and 4.7 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 six games. The 6-foot-9 Sischo is averaging 12.5 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game, while seeing just 15.7 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 10.0 points and 5.3 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.
CRUISING PAST EDINBORO
Daemen is coming off an 82-72 win over regionally-ranked Edinboro on Nov. 28. The Fighting Scots, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, entered the game without a loss on the season (4-0) and ranked fourth in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll. Daemen used a 15-0 run right off the jump ball to seize control. The Wildcats led by as many as 23 points in the first half, and 24 points in the second half before holding off a late Edinboro rally. Deion Hamilton notched 18 points to lead the way while Jay Sarkis (14 points), Aleks Miljenovic (12 points) and Jeff Redband (10 points) also reached double figures. Off the bench, redshirt senior forward Xavier Long chipped in with a career-high nine points and Andrew Sischo grabbed a team-high nine boards.
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. The Wildcats are 4-1 at home this season. Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 74-11 at Lumsden Gymnasium (.871 winning percentage).
LAKE ERIE SCOUTING REPORT
Lake Erie is in its first season as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference; the Storm had previously competed in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Lake Erie is led by first-year head coach Kyle Conley who was promoted to the job after spending the last seven seasons as the team's assistant/associate head coach. LEC returns 12 players from their 2016-17 team, including six who averaged double figure minutes per game. That group is headlined by sophomore guard Gabe Kynard who averaged 10.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last year. After going 4-24 last season, the Storm has nearly matched their entire win total with a 3-3 mark thus far in 2017-18. Close games have proved problematic; the Storm are just 2-11 in games decided by eight points or fewer since the start of last season, including an 0-2 mark this time around. After falling in overtime to in an exhibition vs. Division I Bowling Green (109-106) on Nov. 20, the Storm bounced back with a 79-62 win over Mercyhurst (Nov. 22). Lake Erie has been idle since suffering a 70-66 loss at Edinboro on Nov. 25. Sophomore forward Ryan Middendorf leads the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) while coming off the bench in all six games this season. Middendorf is shooting 50 percent from three-point range, and 21 of his 26 total field goals are from downtown. Kynard has produced as well, playing a team-high 30.7 minutes per game and averaging 12.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Additional production is coming from a quintet of players averaging at least 6.0 points per game, namely junior forward Mitch Loomis who is chipping in 8.2 points and 4.7 boards per game. Lake Erie was picked 10th in the GMAC preseason poll.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Lake Erie: 0-0
Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
DID YOU KNOW?
* Saturday's game is Daemen's first against a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference since a 111-90 defeat of Ohio Valley in the 2013-14 season opener.
* Other GMAC members include Walsh, Malone and Cedarville who were previously members of the now-defunct American Mideast Conference, the same NAIA conference Daemen competed in from the early 2000's until 2012.
* Lake Erie is a former member of NCAA Division III and the Allegheny Mountain Conference; Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald has coached five games against Lake Erie from his tenure at Medaille.
UP NEXT
Daemen opens East Coast Conference play by hosting unanimous league favorite St. Thomas Aquinas which has captured two-straight ECC crowns.
