| JUMP BALL |
The Daemen College men's basketball team makes its second-straight appearance in the East Coast Conference Tournament Wednesday...the fourth-seeded Wildcats of Daemen host the fifth-seeded Firebirds of the University of the District Columbia...the game marks Daemen's first-ever home contest in conference tournament play at the NCAA Division II level...the winner of Wednesday's game moves on to the semifinal round against top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College...the ECC Tournament semifinals and finals will be played this weekend (Mar. 4-5) on the campus of the University of Bridgeport...the tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
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| GAME INFORMATION & LINKS |
| Date:Â Wednesday, Mar. 1 |
Time:Â 7 p.m. |
Location:Â Lumsden Gymnasium - Amherst, N.Y. |
| Tickets: $8 General Admission | $4 Students with ID, Senior Citizens, Children Ages 5-12 |
| A portion of all ticket sales will be donated to Team IMPACT |
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| LIVE STATSÂ |Â LIVE VIDEO |
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#4Â DAEMEN WILDCATS
(18-8, 12-6Â ECC) |
#5Â DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FIREBIRDS
(14-12, 11-7 ECC) |
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| Daemen Roster |
District of Columbia Roster |
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| Daemen Schedule |
District of Columbia Schedule |
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| Daemen Stats |
District of Columbia Stats |
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| EAST COAST CONFERENCE WEBSITE |
EAST COAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS |
EAST REGION INSIDERS WEBSITE |
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EAST COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT CENTRAL |
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| SOCIAL MEDIA |
| Daemen Twitter:Â |
@DaemenAthletics, @DaemenMBB |
| Daemen Hashtags:Â |
#DCWildcatNation, #WNYsD2Team, #LiveBreatheDaemen, #beFIERCE |
| District of Columbia Twitter: |
@UDCAthletics |
| 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 is making its second-straight ECC Tournament appearance...the Wildcats' roster features 12 players from last year's team which entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, advancing to the tourney finals where their season came to an end at 19-10 overall...with 18 victories this season, Daemen has recorded at least that many wins in six-straight seasons...the Wildcats rebounded from a two-game slide in mid-February to close the regular season with a pair of wins last week, defeating Queens (71-59) and Roberts Wesleyan (80-72)...the win over Queens marked the 11th time this season that Daemen has held their opponent under 70 points, going 10-1 in those contests...red-shirt senior forward Arif Mehmetaj scored 26 points in the win over Queens, while sophomore guard Darius Garvin shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and totaled 16 points off the bench...in the win at Roberts Wesleyan in the regular season finale, red-shirt sophomore wing Deion Hamilton (career-high 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting) and red-shirt senior guard Supreme Hannah (23 points) combined for 49 points to pace the Wildcats...the Wildcats have been led all season long by Mehmetaj Hannah...Mehmetaj, who earned second-team All-ECC honors last season, leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg), rebounding (5.0) and blocked shots (24)...he matched a career-high with 30 points in a win over Bridgeport on Feb. 2...Daemen is 5-1 this season when he scores 20 or more points...Mehmetaj ranks eighth in the league in scoring, and third in free throw percentage (82.1)...Hannah ranks 13th in the league in scoring (14.1 ppg), 10th in minutes per game (32.7), ninth in free throw percentage (77.9) and 12th in assists (78)...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...Hamilton (11.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.1 apg) and red-shirt freshman Jeff Redband (10.5 ppg, 3.9 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 is averaging 14.1 points and shooting 58.9 percent from the field over the last eight games...Daemen is 13-2 this season when he shoots 50 percent or better from the field...Redband has started 25 of the team's 26 games, and has made at least one three-pointer in all but four games...he ranks second among all ECC freshmen in scoring while ranking third among the league's overall leaders in three-point field goals (65) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (45.8)...additional production is coming from Garvin (7.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, team-high 32 steals) and senior guard Jaleo Wilkes (7.4 ppg, 1.9 apg, team-high 32 steals)...Daemen is 7-2 when Garvin scores 10 points or more this season...Wilkes has reached double figures in four of the last seven games...guard/forward Jesse Lalka (3.2 ppg, 38.6% 3FG) and forwards Aleks Miljenovic (5.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Xavier Long (1.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and Alex Borges (1.5 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 17 consecutive starts...Daemen leads the ECC in scoring defense, allowing just 70.6 points per game, while also ranking in the league's top-two teams in field goal percentage defense (43.4) and three-point field goal percentage defense (31.9)...offensively, the three-point shot continues to play a major role for the Wildcats...they rank second league lead in total three-pointers made (231) and attempted (618) while leading outright in three-pointers made per game (8.9)...shooting 37.4 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 (11.3) and assist-turnover ratio (1.2). |
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| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCOUTING REPORT |
| UDC head coach Mike Riley has presided over a remarkable turn-around for the Firebirds, leading the team to a 29-26 record since the start of the 2015-16 season after going just 8-46 in the two previous seasons...the Firebirds' 24 league wins in the last two seasons are the third-most, behind only St. Thomas Aquinas (33) and Daemen (26)...UDC will be making its second-straight ECC Tournament appearance, and the program's third since joining the league in 2011-12...the Firebirds rattled off nine wins in an 11-game stretch covering all of December and into January...the stretch included a 7-1 start to ECC play, propelling UDC to the top of the league standings...but, UDC limped to the finish line, winning just four of their final 10 outings, including a 1-5 mark against teams that have qualified for the ECC Tournament...the Firebirds' lone win against an ECC Tournament team in that stretch came in their regular season finale, a 70-67 home win over Bridgeport...the Firebirds went 10-3 at home this season, but just 4-9 on the road...UDC features one of the ECC's highest scoring duos in senior guards Joseph Nickerson (19.8 ppg) and Kasim Chandler (19.0 ppg) who rank fourth and sixth, respectively, among the league's scoring leaders...only Molloy's Jaylen Morris (20.4 ppg) and Charlie Marquardt (20.4 ppg) combine for more points per game than Nickerson and Chandler...Nickerson led the league in steals (78) and is one of only 13 players in the ECC to hit at least 50 three-pointers (51)...he also leads the Firebirds in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and three-point field goal percentage (39.2)...Nickerson shot 8-for-14 from three-point range and totaled 35 points in a 97-79 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 4...he followed that with a 37-point outing in a 108-89 win over NYIT on Feb. 11...for the second-straight season, Chandler leads the league in free throws made and attempted, an incredible feat given his 5-foot-11 frame...he's knocked down 155 of his 202 attempts at the charity stripe this season, and also ranks third in the league in both assists (111) and steals (59)...with Nickerson unavailable, Chandler scored 41 points (12-for-23 from the field, 15-for-19 at the line) in a 95-92 overtime win at Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 1...additional production has come from junior guard Traevon Butler (11.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and senior guard Reggie Sidbury (11.0 ppg, team-high 58 three-pointers)...junior guard Khalil Jackson is producing 7.9 points per game and has scored in double figures in seven of his last 10 outings...the Firebirds have been without senior forward Jayone Troutman (8.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg) for the last 12 games...UDC is averaging just 12.4 points per game from its bench this season, including 8.3 points over the last seven games...behind Chandler's acumen for getting to the free throw line, the Firebirds lead the league in free throws made per game (16.6) and free throw percentage (77.0)...defensively, UDC leads the league in blocks per game (4.4) and ranks second in steals per game (9.2)...the Firebirds force opponents into 16.3 turnovers per contest which ranks second in the league...rebounding has been an issue as UDC gets out-rebounded by more than eight caroms per game...they rank last in the league in total rebounds per game (32.8) and rebounding margin (-8.4). |
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| BY THE NUMBERS |
| DAEMEN |
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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA |
| 76.1 |
POINTS PER GAME |
80.3 |
| 70.6 |
POINTS PER GAME ALLOWED |
81.7 |
| +5.5 |
SCORING MARGIN |
-1.4 |
| .445 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.448 |
| .434 |
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.472 |
| .374 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE |
.361 |
| .319 |
3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE |
.339 |
| 8.9 |
3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE PER GAME |
7.8 |
| .741 |
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE |
.770 |
| 13.0 |
FREE THROWS MADE PER GAME |
16.6 |
| 35.0 |
REBOUNDS PER GAME |
32.8 |
| -3.3 |
REBOUNDING MARGIN |
-8.4 |
| 13.3 |
ASSISTS PER GAME |
14.5 |
| 11.3 |
TURNOVERS PER GAME |
13.8 |
| 14.6 |
TURNOVERS FORCED PER GAME |
16.3 |
| +3.3 |
TURNOVER MARGIN |
+2.5 |
| 1.2 |
ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO |
1.1 |
| 6.3 |
STEALS PER GAME |
9.2 |
| 3.5 |
BLOCKS PER GAME |
4.4 |
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| DAEMEN VS. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: THE HISTORY |
| All-Time: Daemen leads the all-time series 6-2 |
| Streak: Won 1 |
| Previous Meetings: CLICK HERE |
| Last Meeting: Daemen 97, District of Columbia 77 | Jan. 21, 2017 |
| Last Meeting Highlights: Daemen got a combined 40 points from Arif Mehmetaj (21) and Jeff Redband (19) on 15-of-21 shooting to race past UDC which entered the game atop the league standings...the Wildcats shot a season-high 63.3 percent from the field as a team, while knocking down 13-of-21 attempts (61.9%) from three-point range...Joseph Nickerson paced the Firebirds with 19 points, but backcourt mate Kasim Chandler was held to just 12 points, two assists and 1-for-5 free throw shooting. |
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| HOME SWEET HOME |
| Daemen is enjoying its home cooking once again this season, going 13-2 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 10.5 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 67.0 points per game to their opponents in home games...a win Wednesday would match the program's all-time record for home wins in a season (14) set during the 1999-2000 season...the Wildcats are 69-10 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season, and 33-6 in home ECC contests since joining the league back in 2013-14. |
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| RALLY CATS |
| Daemen is developing quite the reputation for rallying from sizable deficits, having done so in three recent 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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| GOING STREAKING |
| An 80-72 defeat of Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 25 was Daemen's 12th-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)...Deion Hamilton came off the bench to hit 11-of-13 shots from the field and total a career-high 26 points in the win...the eight-point margin of victory was nothing new as eight of the wins in the streak have come by eight points or fewer, including the last five 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 at Lumsden Gymnasium earlier this season, 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, but 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, sealing an 88-85 victory...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 19 of the last 20 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 58-28 mark. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Daemen is 4-1 during the month of March under head coach Mike MacDonald...the Wildcats' four-game March winning streak was snapped in last season's ECC Tournament finals when the Wildcats dropped an 80-63 decision to top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas. |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| A Daemen win Wednesday pushes the Wildcats into the semifinal round of the ECC Tournament on Saturday, Mar. 4 at Bridgeport's Hubbell Gymnasium. |
