| JUMP BALL |
| The Daemen College men's basketball team opens the final week of the 2016-17 regular season by hosting Queens College in an East Coast Conference game on Wednesday...both the Wildcats and Knights have already clinched bids to the upcoming ECC Tournament, although their respective seeds remain up in the air...the conference tournament features the top six teams in the final regular season standings, and it begins on March 1...here's a look at the current ECC standings. |
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| SENIOR SALUTE |
| Daemen seniors Alex Borges, Supreme Hannah, Jesse Lalka, Arif Mehmetaj and Jaleo Wilkes will be playing in the final regular season home game of their careers on Wednesday...they will be honored in a pre-game ceremony to commemorate their commitment and dedication to the Daemen basketball program. |
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
| Date:Â Wednesday, Feb. 22 |
Time:Â Â 7 p.m. |
Location:Â Lumsden Gymnasium - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| LIVE STATSÂ |Â LIVE VIDEO |
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DAEMEN WILDCATS
(16-8, 10-6Â ECC) |
QUEENS KNIGHTS
(13-11, 10-7 ECC) |
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| Daemen Roster |
Queens Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
Queens Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
Queens 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 |
| Queens Twitter: |
@QCKnights |
| 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 |
| With 12 returning players from its 2015-16 team that went 19-10 overall and 14-6 in East Coast Conference play, Daemen has clinched its second consecutive ECC Tournament berth...the Wildcats open the final week of the 2016-17 regular season in a tie for fourth place in the league standings, after being picked fifth in the ECC preseason poll...depending on this week's results, Daemen could end up anywhere from second to sixth in the ECC Tournament seedings...the Wildcats are coming off two losses last week, including a gut-wrenching 73-71 home defeat to Molloy in which DC's one-point lead was erased on a three-pointer by Molloy senior Charlie Marquardt with 4.4 seconds remaining...Daemen is 9-3 since the calendar turned to 2017...the Wildcats have been led all season long by redshirt-seniors Arif Mehmetaj and Supreme Hannah...Mehmetaj, a 6-foot-7 forward who earned second-team All-ECC honors last season, leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg), rebounding (5.0) and blocked shot (21)...he matched a career-high earlier this month with 30 points in a win over Bridgeport, and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with just over two minutes to play during an 80-72 road win at NYIT on Feb. 8...Mehmetaj ranks 11th in the league in scoring, and sixth in free throw percentage (80.0)...Hannah ranks 13th in the league in scoring (14.1 ppg), 10th in minutes per game (32.7), fifth in free throw percentage (80.3) and 12th in assists (74)...he scored a career-high 29 points in an early-December loss at District of Columbia, and reached double-figure scoring in 15 consecutive contests from Dec. 3 through Feb. 8...redshirt-sophomore Deion Hamilton (11.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.1 apg) and redshirt-freshman Jeff Redband (11.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg) have also produced this season...Hamilton has come off the bench since mid-December after starting the first nine games of the season...he scored a season-high 22 points in Saturday's loss to Molloy, and is averaging 13.8 points over the last six games...Daemen is 11-2 this season when he shoots 50 percent or better from the field...Redband has started all 24 games, and has made at least one three-pointer in 21 of them...he leads all ECC freshmen in scoring while ranking among the league's overall leaders in three-point field goals (64 - third) and three-point field goal percentage (46.7 - second)...additional production is coming sophomore guard Darius Garvin (7.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, team-high 30 steals) and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (7.3 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...Wilkes has reached double figures in three of the last five games...guard/forward Jesse Lalka (3.5 ppg, 40.5% 3FG) and forwards Aleks Miljenovic (5.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg), Xavier Long (1.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and Alex Borges (1.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg) are also part of the Wildcats' regular rotation...Lalka posted back-to-back double-figure scoring games upon being inserted into the starting lineup in mid-December, and he's made 15 consecutive starts...Daemen has been 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 (32.5)...offensively, the three-point shot continues to play a major role for the Wildcats...they rank second league lead in total three-pointers made (218) and attempted (579) while leading outright in three-pointers made per game (9.1)...shooting 37.7 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 (11.8) and assist-turnover ratio (1.2). |
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| QUEENS SCOUTING REPORT |
| Queens is led by first-year head coach Matt Collier who has guided the Knights to clinch their first ECC Tournament berth since the 2013-14 season...the Knights returned seven players from their 2015-16 team which went 11-14 overall and 9-11 in league play...QC was picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll, and the Knights' roster is headlined by senior wing Tyree White, a second-team All-ECC pick and the ECC Defensive Player of the Year last season...White ranks seventh in the league in scoring (16.5 ppg), third in rebounding (9.4 rpg) and fourth in field goal percentage (57.6) this season...he has scored in double figures in 27 consecutive games dating back to last season...senior guard Diego Maldonado is the team's top three-point shooter...he ranks fourth in the ECC in made three-pointers (61) and is producing 13.6 points per game...he went for 35 points, shooting 11-for-15 from the field and 4-for-7 from three-point range, in an overtime win at Lincoln in mid-November...senior guard Kyheim Chaplin (10.5 ppg) has also produced this season...additional production is coming from Malcolm Moore (7.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), Simon Green (7.5 ppg) and Marquis Roberts (7.3 ppg)...Green has come off the bench to score in double figures in the Knights' last two games...the Knights put together a four-game winning streak to end January, but are just 2-3 in the month of February...all three of their losses this month have come against teams that have qualified for the ECC Tournament, while their two victories have come against teams outside the league's top six teams...QC snapped a two-game slide with an 84-72 victory at LIU Post last Saturday, giving them eight road wins this season which is tied for the most in the league with Bridgeport and Molloy. |
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| BY THE NUMBERS |
| DAEMEN |
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QUEENS |
| 76.1 |
POINTS PER GAME |
78.2 |
| 71.0 |
POINTS PER GAME ALLOWED |
79.1 |
| +5.1 |
SCORING MARGIN |
-0.9 |
| .446 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.454 |
| .431 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.449 |
| .377 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.379 |
| .325 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.331 |
| 9.1 |
3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE PER GAME |
8.9 |
| .744 |
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE |
.717 |
| 12.7 |
FREE THROWS MADE PER GAME |
14.5 |
| 35.3 |
REBOUNDS PER GAME |
37.7 |
| -2.7 |
REBOUNDING MARGIN |
+1.2 |
| 13.7 |
ASSISTS PER GAME |
14.5 |
| 11.8 |
TURNOVERS PER GAME |
15.5 |
| 14.5 |
TURNOVERS FORCED PER GAME |
12.8 |
| +2.7 |
TURNOVER MARGIN |
-2.7 |
| 1.2 |
ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO |
0.9 |
| 6.1 |
STEALS PER GAME |
5.9 |
| 3.5 |
BLOCKS PER GAME |
2.3 |
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| DAEMEN VS. QUEENS: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time: Daemen leads the all-time series 6-2 |
| Streak: Won 1 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: Daemen 75, Queens 62 | Jan. 11, 2017 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, Daemen outscored Queens 47-31 in the second to walk away with a 13-point road win - its first at QC's Fitzgerald Gymnasium since the 2013-14 season...Arif Mehmetaj paced the Wildcats, scoring 14 of his 21 points in the second half...Supreme Hannah added 15 points and five assists for the Wildcats...Tyree White scored Queens' first 10 points of the game and finished with a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds). |
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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 12-2 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 10.4 points per game at home this season, with just five games being decided by less than 10 points...four of the five close games were decided by three points or fewer, and all have come since Dec. 31...one of the ECC's top defensive teams this season, Daemen is allowing just 67.6 points per game to their opponents in home games...the Wildcats are 68-10 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season, and 32-6 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 56-28 mark. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Since joining the ECC in 2013-14, Daemen is 18-9 in February league games, including a 12-3 mark in February league games at Lumsden Gymnasium. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen concludes the regular season by visiting longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday, Feb. 25. |
