| JUMP BALL |
| The Daemen College men's basketball team visits league-leading St. Thomas Aquinas College for an East Coast Conference game which carries big implications in the race for the regular season league title and the No. 1 seed to the upcoming ECC Tournament. |
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| BATTLE OF THE HEAVYWEIGHTS |
| Wednesday's contest features the top two programs in the East Coast Conference, at least in terms of sheer victories...since Daemen joined the East Coast Conference in 2013-14, they rank second among ECC teams in overall victories (77) and league victories (54)...STAC ranks first among ECC teams in overall victories (83) and league victories (57) in that same span...the teams also met in the championship game of last season's ECC Tournament when STAC secured its first-ever league championship with an 80-63 victory. |
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
| Date:Â Wednesday, Feb. 15 |
Time:Â 7 p.m. |
Location:Â Spartan Hall - Sparkill, N.Y. |
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| LIVE STATSÂ |Â LIVE VIDEO |
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DAEMEN WILDCATS
(16-6, 10-4 ECC) |
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SPARTANS
(20-5, 13-3 ECC) |
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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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| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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...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, chipping 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, despite being hit by the injury bug during the preseason as notable 2015-16 contributors Jay Sarkis (8.5 ppg, 2.3 apg) and Nick Petrucelli (9.9 ppg, 4.6 rgp) were lost to season-ending injuries...Daemen enters Wednesday's contest at STAC having won 11 of its last 13 games overall, and 10 of the last 11 league games dating back to mid-December...most recently, the Wildcats have won six straight games, the last three of which have featured sizable second-half comebacks...the Wildcats are coming off an 80-72 road win at NYIT last Wednesday, outscoring the hosts 42-18 in the final 14 minutes to erase a 16-point deficit...Mehmetaj, who matched his career-high with 30 points in an 82-73 win over Bridgeport on Feb. 2, leads the team and ranks eighth in the league in scoring (15.5 ppg)...he's posted five 20-point games this season, four of which have come in the last eight games...he also leads the team in rebounding (5.1 rpg) and total blocks (19)...Hannah is producing 14.8 points per game and he leads the team in assists (72)...Redband leads all ECC freshmen in scoring at 11.7 points per game...he also leads the team and ranks third in the league with 63 three-pointers while shooting 48.1 percent from deep...he scored a season-high 22 points in a win over LIU Post on Jan. 25...Hamilton, who has come off the bench in 12 straight games, is contributing 11.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game...additional production is coming from sophomore guard Darius Garvin (7.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, team-high 29 steals) and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (7.4 ppg, 1.9 apg, 27 steals)...Garvin scored a career-high 22 points in a non-league win over St. Michael's on Dec. 19, and Daemen is 6-2 when he scores 10 points or more this season...Daemen continues to be one of the top defensive teams in the league this season...the Wildcats have held opponents below 70 points in 10 games this season, going 9-1 in those contests...Daemen leads the ECC in scoring defense, allowing just 70.4 points per game, while also ranking in the league's top-two teams in field goal percentage defense (42.7) and three-point field goal percentage defense (32.0)...offensively, the three-point shot continues to play a major role for the Wildcats...they lead the league in total three-pointers made (210) and three-pointers made per game (9.5)...shooting 38.7 percent from long distance as a team ranks the Wildcats second in the ECC...Daemen has also been efficient in terms of taking care of the ball, leading the league in fewest turnovers per game (11.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.2). |
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| ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SCOUTING REPORT |
| 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 83-35 record to date (.703 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 near 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 for much of the season, and they enter Wednesday's game ranked No. 3 in that particular poll...following a 67-64 loss at Daemen on Jan. 4, the Spartans rattled off nine consecutive victories, including a 104-90 non-league win over regionally-ranked Southern New Hampshire on Jan. 9...the Spartan win streak was halted last Wednesday (Feb. 8) with a 90-89 loss at Bridgeport, before rebounding with an 85-69 win at Queens...Reyes has once again been among the league's top players, presently ranking second in field goal percentage (62.5), third in scoring (20.2 ppg) and blocked shots (31), and fourth in rebounding (9.6 rpg) and steals (49)...he has posted 11 double-doubles this season, including a 37-point, 15-rebound outing in a win over Queens on Jan. 7...he has scored in double figures in all 23 games that he's played in this season, and is averaging 23 points per game over the last three...Watler (15.0 ppg, 3.6 apg), Lawton (13.7 ppg) and McFarlan (10.1 ppg) have also produced...Watler is 10th in the league in scoring and fourth in total assists (89)...he scored a season-high 26 points in a recent win over District of Columbia...Lawton leads the team in three-point field goals with 50, and leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (50.0)...senior guard Aaron Cust (8.7 ppg) has come on of late, averaging 15 points per game over the last nine...additional production has come from James Mitchell (8.6 ppg, 3.0 apg) and de Courtenay (6.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg)...pressure defense has become a staple for the Spartans, and they rank sixth in the country in steals per game (10.0) as well as fourth in turnovers forced per game (19.0)...STAC leads the league and ranks ninth nationally in field goal percentage (50.7), while also leading the ECC in scoring offense (86.0 ppg). |
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| BY THE NUMBERS |
| DAEMEN |
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ST. THOMAS AQUINAS |
| 77.5 |
POINTS PER GAME |
86.0 |
| 70.4 |
POINTS PER GAME ALLOWED |
75.2 |
| +7.1 |
SCORING MARGIN |
+10.8 |
| .450 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.507 |
| .427 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.463 |
| .387 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.396 |
| .320 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.355 |
| 9.5 |
3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE PER GAME |
7.5 |
| .757 |
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE |
.731 |
| 13.0 |
FREE THROWS MADE PER GAME |
13.4 |
| 35.0 |
REBOUNDS PER GAME |
34.5 |
| -3.2 |
REBOUNDING MARGIN |
+2.6 |
| 13.9 |
ASSISTS PER GAME |
16.0 |
| 11.5 |
TURNOVERS PER GAME |
13.6 |
| 15.0 |
TURNOVERS FORCED PER GAME |
19.0 |
| +3.5 |
TURNOVER MARGIN |
+5.4 |
| 1.2 |
ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO |
1.2 |
| 6.3 |
STEALS PER GAME |
10.0 |
| 3.3 |
BLOCKS PER GAME |
2.2 |
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| DAEMEN VS. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time:Â St. Thomas Aquinas leads the all-time series 9-3 |
| Streak: Won 1 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: Daemen 67, St. Thomas Aquinas 64 | Jan. 4, 2017 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: Daemen picked up its first-ever win against a nationally-ranked opponent at the Division II level, knocking off #23 St. Thomas Aquinas 67-64 in a back-and-forth game that featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes...Supreme Hannah and Deion Hamilton scored 15 points apiece to lead a balanced scoring effort for the Wildcats...Hannah produced 13 points in the final 15 minutes of the contest to help Daemen rally from a nine-point second-half deficit...Chaz Watler paced the Spartans with 19 points...STAC played without Justin Reyes, the reigning ECC Player of the Year. |
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| TOURNEY TIME |
| With four games remaining in their regular season schedule, Daemen is closing in on clinching its second straight East Coast Conference tournament berth...the Wildcats enter Wednesday's action in a tie for second place in the league standings with Bridgeport (the Purple Knights play at Queens on Wednesday evening)...a Daemen win on Wednesday coupled with an LIU Post loss to District of Columbia will clinch an ECC Tournament berth for the Wildcats...it would also give Daemen a sweep of the season series with St. Thomas Aquinas...if the Wildcats and Spartans were to end the regular season tied atop the standings, Daemen would be awarded the No. 1 seed to the ECC Tournament based on their head-to-head record...the top six teams in the final league standings go on to the conference tournament which is slated to being on Wednesday, March 1...the tournament's top two seeds receive a bye into the semifinal round which will be played on Saturday, March 4 at Bridgeport, with the tournament finals to follow the next day. |
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| RALLY CATS |
| Daemen is developing quite the reputation for rallying from sizable deficits, having done so in each of the last three games...on Jan. 28 at Mercy, the Wildcats trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, and rallied from a 61-50 second-half deficit, outscoring the hosts 32-11 in the final 12 minutes en route to an 82-72 victory...Mercy shot just 3-for-19 from the field while committing seven turnovers in the final 12+ minutes...on Feb. 2 vs. Bridgeport, the Wildcats fell behind by 15 points in the opening stanza, and trailed by 10 early in the second half before rallying to an 82-73 victory...Bridgeport shot 1-for-7 and committed two turnovers during a decisive 13-2 run for the Wildcats which turned a 64-63 lead into a 77-65 advantage with just over a minute to play...on Feb. 8 at NYIT, the Wildcats found themselves down by 16 points (54-38) in the second half, before they outscored the Bears 42-18 in the final 14 minutes to walk away with an 80-72 road victory...all together, Daemen has five wins this season when trailing at halftime...all five have come since Jan. 4. |
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| GOING STREAKING |
| An 88-85 defeat of Roberts Wesleyan on Jan. 18 was Daemen's 11th straight in the all-time series with the Redhawks, marking the Wildcats's second-longest active streak against any opponent (16 straight wins against Houghton is Daemen's longest active streak, although the teams haven't met since the 2011-12 season)...the three-point margin of victory Wednesday is nothing new as seven of the wins in the streak have come by eight points or fewer, including the last four in a row...none was more dramatic than the Wildcats' 98-96 win at Roberts Wesleyan last season (Jan. 12, 2016) as Daemen erased a 22-point second-half deficit to emerge victorious...Torrence Dyck's driving layup with four seconds left capped a furious 34-10 rally which took place over the final 6:16 of the game, delivering the Wildcats' ninth straight win at RWC's Voller Athletic Center...Dyck scored 18 of his career-high 34 points in the game-changing spurt, propelling him to U.S. Basketball Writers Association Division II Men's Basketball Player of the Week honors...the Redhawks attempted to flip the script on Wednesday, rallying from an 18-point second-half deficit to pull within five points with just over a minute to play...RWC had possession with a chance to draw even closer, bur Darius Garvin came up with a huge steal for the Wildcats, and he converted a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining to essentially put the game out of reach...Garvin scored 19 points to lead five double-figure scorers...Arif Mehmetaj (15 points, season-high five assists) and Supreme Hannah (14 points, seven rebounds) played key roles...the Wildcats got great production off the bench as well, with Deion Hamilton, Jaleo Wilkes and Aleks Miljenovic combining for 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting...the Wildcats have now won 18 of the last 19 vs. RWC dating back to the 2007-08 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 (210) and three-pointers made per game (9.5)...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 nine games this season posting a 7-2 record in those outings...Daemen has made at least 10 three-pointers in 28 games during MacDonald's tenure...the high-water mark in those games is 15 made three-pointers which has been accomplished three times - Feb. 5, 2016 in a 106-102 win over Dowling, Nov. 23, 2016 in a 90-79 win at Edinboro, and Jan. 25, 2017 in an 88-66 win over LIU Post. |
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| THE ARIF FACTOR |
| With four 20-point games since the calendar turned to January, redshirt-senior forward Arif Mehmetaj has now recorded 14 games of at least 20 points in his Daemen career...the Wildcats are 10-4 when Mehmetaj reaches 20 points...that includes a 4-1 record this season...Mehmetaj matched his career-high with 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting in Daemen's 82-73 win over Bridgeport on Feb. 2...Mehmetaj has certainly hit his stride of late, averaging 19.8 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 53.3 percent from the field over the last eight games...a matchup nightmare on the perimeter for opposing big men, Mehmetaj has knocked down multiple three-pointers in seven of the last 11 games, and he ranks third on the team with 33 three-pointers this season...since transferring to Daemen from SUNY Delhi, Mehmetaj has appeared in 51 games while making 47 starts, and he's totaled 759 points (14.9 ppg), 311 rebounds (6.1 rpg) and 84 three-point field goals. |
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| THE DEFINITION OF SUPREME |
| 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 15 consecutive games - the longest streak of his career - and is averaging 15.5  points per game in that stretch...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 in early January, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the final 15 minutes of the contest...he scored 20 points in Daemen's 82-72 -from-behind victory at Mercy on Jan. 28, marking his third 20-point game this season and the fifth of his career...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 12th in the league) in scoring (14.8 ppg) this season...he also leads the team and ranks ninth in the league in total assists (72)...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 101 games, including 59 starts, and has totaled 822 points and 256 assists...he's currently 14 assists shy of moving into the top-10 all-time at Daemen. |
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| FANTASTIC FROSH |
| It hasn't taken long for redshirt-freshman forward Jeff Redband to make an impact for the Wildcats...the 6-foot-7 sharp-shooter has started all 22 games this season and is producing 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 48.1 percent from three-point range...he leads all ECC freshmen in scoring, and ranks third in the league overall with 63 three-pointers this season...of the eight players in the ECC with at least 50 three-pointers, Redband is one of three to also be ranked in the top five in terms of three-point field goal percentage...Redband was recently named the ECC Rookie of the Week for Jan. 23-29...it was his fourth Rookie of the Week selection this season, including three straight weeks in January...in that span, Redband averaged 13.2 points per game while shooting a blistering 59.5 percent from three-point range (22-for-37)...he scored a career-high 22 points in an 88-66 win over LIU Post on Jan. 25...Redband has made at least one three-pointer in 20 games this season, including the last 14 games in a row. |
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| BENCH MOB |
| Reserves Deion Hamilton and Jaleo Wilkes have played starring roles in recent games off the Wildcats' bench...in the last three games, the duo has combined to shoot 47.7 percent from the field (21-for-44) and 82.4 percent from the free throw line (28-for-34) while averaging 23.3 points...80 percent of their point production has come in the second halves of those recent games...Hamilton scored 10 of his 15 points during the second half in the win at Mercy on Jan. 28, while Wilkes notched all 10 of his points in that period...in the win over Bridgeport on Feb. 2, Hamilton scored all 11 of his points in the final 5:36 of the game...and against NYIT on Feb. 8, Wilkes scored 14 second-half points, including a perfect 8-for-8 showing at the charity stripe (6-for-6 in the game's final 40 seconds), while Hamilton chipped in with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting...the win over NYIT also saw Daemen get solid outings from reserves Xavier Long and Alex Borges...Long scored a season-high seven points while grabbing five rebounds, and matched his season-high for minutes with 19...it was his first game playing double-figure minutes since Dec. 14 (also vs. NYIT)...Borges played double-figure minutes (11) for the first time since Jan. 4, scoring two points and grabbing one rebound...more importantly, Borges provided the Wildcats with solid defense against NYIT's 6-foot-9 center Jon Feiler who was held six points below his scoring average. |
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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 current six-game winning streak gives them two streaks of at least five straight wins this season...it marks the first time since the 2012-13 season that Daemen has had two such streaks in the same season. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen returns home to face Molloy College in another key ECC contest this Saturday, Feb. 18 with tip-off slated for 3 p.m. |
