| JUMP BALL |
| As the 2016-17 regular season reaches crunch time, the Daemen College men's basketball team meets Molloy College in a key East Coast Conference contest at home this weekend...the Wildcats and Lions enter Saturday's game tied with one another for third place in the league standings...as both teams jockey for conference tournament positioning, the winner keeps a second-place finish in the standings (and a first-round bye in the conference tourney) within reach as the schedule turns to its final week of the regular season. |
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| A CHANCE AT REDEMPTION |
| Daemen will be looking for a bit of redemption after suffering a controversial 78-75 loss at Molloy earlier this season...the Lions were awarded an old-fashioned three-point play by senior center Mike Guzzardi with 0.5 seconds remaining to break a 75-75 tie...a review of the film after the game revealed that the ball was still in Guzzardi's hands when the clock struck 0.0. |
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
| Date:Â Saturday, Feb. 18 |
Time:Â 3 p.m. |
Location:Â Lumsden Gymnasium - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| LIVE STATSÂ |Â LIVE VIDEO |
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DAEMEN WILDCATS
(16-7, 10-5Â ECC) |
MOLLOY LIONS
(14-10, 10-5Â ECC) |
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| Daemen Roster |
Molloy Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
Molloy Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
Molloy 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 |
| Molloy Twitter: |
@MolloyLions |
| 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 Saturday's contest having won 11 of its last 14 games overall, and 10 of the last 12 league games dating back to mid-December...most recently, the Wildcats had a six-game winning streak snapped at the hands of league-leading St. Thomas Aquinas, falling 84-50 on Feb. 15...it was Daemen's most lopsided defeat since Nov. 20, 2010 (103-62 vs. Robert Morris-Ill.)...Mehmetaj, who matched his career-high with 30 points in an 82-73 win over Bridgeport on Feb. 2, leads the team and ranks ninth in the league in scoring (15.1 ppg)...he's posted five 20-point games this season, four of which have come in the last nine games...he also leads the team in rebounding (5.0 rpg) and total blocks (19)...Hannah is producing 14.3 points per game and he leads the team in assists (73)...Redband leads all ECC freshmen in scoring at 11.6 points per game...he also leads the team and ranks third in the league with 64 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 13 straight games, is contributing 11.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game...additional production is coming from sophomore guard Darius Garvin (7.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, team-high 30 steals) and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (7.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 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 71.0 points per game, while also ranking in the league's top-two teams in field goal percentage defense (43.1) and three-point field goal percentage defense (32.7)...offensively, the three-point shot continues to play a major role for the Wildcats...they are tied for the league lead in total three-pointers made (212) while leading outright in three-pointers made per game (9.2)...shooting 37.7 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 (11.8) and assist-turnover ratio (1.2). |
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| MOLLOY SCOUTING REPORT |
| Veteran bench boss Charles Marquardt is back for his 23rd season on the Molloy bench, having led the Lions to a 251-383 record in his tenure to date...the Lions bring back seven players from their 2015-16 team, including three who started at least 17 games...Molloy went 9-19 overall last season, snapping a string of three consecutive winning seasons...their 7-13 mark in ECC play placed them ninth in the conference, snapping their string of 10 consecutive conference tournament appearances...headlining the group of returners is the Lions' top two scorers from last season - the coach's son, senior guard Charlie Marquardt and senior guard Jaylen Morris...Marquardt led the ECC in three-point field goals (88) last season, while averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game...Morris, an Amherst native who played scholastically at St. Joe's Collegiate Institute, earned third-team All-ECC honors after averaging 16.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game...also back is double-figure scorer Curtis Jenkins (10.8 ppg)...among the team's newcomers this year is 6-foot-8 senior Mike Guzzardi who averaged 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 23 games for former ECC member Dowling last season...the Lions were picked in a tie for seventh place in the ECC preseason poll...the Lions have played the toughest schedule among ECC teams to date, according to the latest NCAA statistical rankings...half of MC's 10 losses have come against teams ranked in the official NCAA Division II East Region poll which was released earlier this week...the Lions also own a 79-74 win over Philadelphia which is ranked 10th in that poll...MC is 6-2 since mid-January...they had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 90-79 loss at Bridgeport on Feb. 11, but rebounded with an 88-80 home win over NYIT on Wednesday...Marquardt, who missed the game against Bridgeport, returned to scored 27 points in the win over NYIT...he and Morris make up the highest scoring duo in the league, making Molloy the only team to boast two players averaging at least 20 points per game...Morris leads the league in scoring (20.3 ppg) and made field goals (201)...he's been on an incredible tear of late, averaging 23.9 points over Molloy's last nine games...included in that stretch is a 42-point outing vs. Mercy on Feb. 4 when he shot 18-for-24 from the field...he also leads the team in rebounding (7.1 rpg)...Marquardt is once again doing most of his damage from three-point range as he ranks second in the league in three-point field goals (71), while also ranking third in scoring (20.2 ppg)...Guzzardi (12.4 ppg) and Jenkins (11.7 ppg) are also producing in double figures for the Lions...Jenkins has started the last two games after coming off the bench in his first 21 appearances this season...freshman guard Nick Corbett scored a career-high 29 points in the loss at Bridgeport, and he's producing 9.5 points per game with a team-high 89 assists. |
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| BY THE NUMBERS |
| DAEMEN |
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MOLLOY |
| 76.3 |
POINTS PER GAME |
81.8 |
| 71.0 |
POINTS PER GAME ALLOWED |
80.3 |
| +5.3 |
SCORING MARGIN |
+1.5 |
| .445 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.493 |
| .431 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.463 |
| .377 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.332 |
| .327 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.400 |
| 9.2 |
3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE PER GAME |
5.3 |
| .748 |
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE |
.749 |
| 12.8 |
FREE THROWS MADE PER GAME |
16.2 |
| 35.1 |
REBOUNDS PER GAME |
33.0 |
| -2.8 |
REBOUNDING MARGIN |
-3.7 |
| 13.8 |
ASSISTS PER GAME |
11.7 |
| 11.8 |
TURNOVERS PER GAME |
12.4 |
| 14.8 |
TURNOVERS FORCED PER GAME |
15.0 |
| +3.0 |
TURNOVER MARGIN |
+2.6 |
| 1.2 |
ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO |
0.9 |
| 6.2 |
STEALS PER GAME |
8.6 |
| 3.3 |
BLOCKS PER GAME |
3.1 |
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| DAEMEN VS. MOLLOY: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time: Daemen leads the all-time series 5-3 |
| Streak: Lost 1 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: Molloy 78, Daemen 75 | Jan. 14, 2017 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: Mike Guzzardi's old-fashioned three-point play in the waning seconds snapped a 75-all tie and delivered a three-point win for the Lions at Quealy Gymnasium...the win snapped Molloy's five-game slide in the all-time series with Daemen...Charlie Marquardt paced the Lions with 23 points, 17 of which came during the first half...Arif Mehmetaj posted a double-double (26 points, 14 rebounds) in defeat for the Wildcats...Daemen had rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to take a seven-point lead in the second half, before Molloy closed on a 20-10 run...the game featured four ties and 13 lead changes. |
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| TOURNEY TIME |
| With three games remaining in their regular season schedule, Daemen is closing in on clinching its second straight East Coast Conference tournament berth...the Wildcats enter Saturday's action in a tie for third place in the league standings with Molloy...a Daemen win on Saturday coupled with an LIU Post loss to Bridgeport will clinch an ECC Tournament berth for the Wildcats...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 their last three wins...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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| HOME SWEET HOME |
| Daemen is enjoying its home cooking once again this season, going 12-1 at Lumsden Gymnasium thus far...their 10th home win of the season came on Jan. 21 vs. District of Columbia, and it marked the fifth time in the last six seasons that Daemen has recorded double-figure home victories...the Wildcats are outscoring their opponents by an average of 11.3 points per game at home this season, with just four games being decided by less than 10 points...three of the four close games were decided by three points, and all have come since Dec. 31...one of the ECC's top defensive teams this season, Daemen is allowing just 67.2 points per game to their opponents in home games...the Wildcats are 68-9 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season, and 32-5 in home ECC contests since joining the league back in 2013-14. |
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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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| 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 56-27 mark. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| While the five all-time meetings between Daemen and Molloy at MC's Quealy Gymnasium have generally been tight affairs (average margin of 4.0 ppg), the same cannot be said of the three all-time meetings at Lumsden Gymnasium...Daemen is 3-0 in those meetings, outscoring Molloy by average margin of 23.3 points per game. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen hosts Queens College in their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 22...Daemen's five seniors - Arif Mehmetaj, Supreme Hannah, Alex Borges, Jesse Lalka and Jaleo Wilkes will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. |
