GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
GAME #10: Daemen Wildcats (8-1, 3-0 ECC) vs. St. Rose Golden Knights (4-7, 2-4 NE-10)
Monday, Dec. 31 |  12 p.m.  |  Amherst, N.Y.  |  Lumsden Gymnasium

Live Stats
Watch Live: ECC Network
Game Day

JUMP BALL
Daemen plays the second of three straight home games Monday when Northeast-10 Conference member St. Rose comes to Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats have been rolling of late, winning six straight games. The latest win came Saturday when Daemen returned from the NCAA-mandated holiday break with a 64-55 defeat of St. Michael's. After trailing by eight points at halftime, Daemen's defense stiffened and limited St. Michael's to less than 25 percent shooting in the second half. Since losing to St. Michael's on Dec. 30, 2017, Daemen has rattled off 25 wins in their last 28 games. St. Rose comes in with a 4-7 record this season. The Golden Knights have been idle since suffering 78-73 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas on Dec. 17. 

FAST START
At 8-1, Daemen off to its best start since the 2012-13 season when they won eight of their first 10 outings. The Wildcats played an independent schedule that season as they began their transition to NCAA Division II, finishing the season with a school-record 27 wins. Daemen's previous best start during its NCAA Division II era (from 2013-14 on) came during the 2014-15 campaign when they started 6-3. Presently, Daemen is one of only four teams in the East Region with one or fewer losses (also: St. Anselm [9-0], Bentley [10-1], St. Thomas Aquinas [9-1]). Daemen's six-game winning streak is tied for the second longest active streak in the region (St. Anselm: nine straight wins; Dominican: six straight wins).

DON'T LET THE BALL DROP
The 2018 calendar year has been a remarkable one for Daemen. The Wildcats have posted a 24-3 record this calendar year, and have held two separate eight-game winning streaks, as well as their current six-game streak. The team's success also includes a 13-1 record in home games, and a 17-1 record in East Coast Conference contests.

RETURN OF THE MAC
Mike MacDonald returns to the bench for his fifth season as Daemen's head coach, and his 22nd season overall as a collegiate head coach. Since beginning to roam the Daemen sidelines, MacDonald has led the Wildcats to an 89-38 overall record. The Wildcats have won at least 19 games in each of MacDonald's first four seasons, and the team's 89 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 powerhouse, 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 holds a career record of 345-264.

POLLS, POLLS, POLLS
Daemen was ranked No. 22 in the Division II Bulletin preseason poll, marking the first time in the program's Division II era that they've been included in any of the several national polls. Division II Bulletin is a national publication that specializes in the coverage of NCAA Division II men's basketball. The Wildcats also received votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) preseason national polls. Daemen received seven votes in the latest NABC national poll released on Dec. 21. 

MOVIN' ON UP
Daemen has moved up to No. 4 in the latest D2SIDA East Region media poll which was released Dec. 20. It's the second straight week that Daemen has been ranked fourth. The poll includes teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Wildcats debuted in the poll at a tie for third on Nov. 12, the team's highest-ever regional ranking at the Division II level. Following a road loss at Mercyhurst on Nov. 14, the Wildcats dropped to seventh, but have moved up one spot in three successive weeks. 

THRUWAY RIVALRY DOMINANCE IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Daemen's 78-70 win at Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 5 was their 16th straight win in the Thruway Rivalry series, and it came as the national spotlight shined. The game was featured as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase, and it was broadcast across a variety of online mediums. Andrew Sischo racked up season-highs of 32 points and 18 rebounds, and Deion Hamilton (season-high 24 points) keyed a game-closing 20-7 run by scoring 11 points, including the tying and go-ahead buckets. Daemen has won 23 of the last 24 meetings with RWC, and 12 straight at the Voller Athletic Center. The 16-game winning streak is tied for Daemen's longest active streak against a single opponent. Eleven of the last 16 meetings have been decided by nine points or fewer, including the last three. The closest margin was a 98-86 final on Jan. 12, 2016 when Daemen erased a 22-point deficit with just over six minutes to play, riding the strong play of Rochester native Torrence Dyck who finished with a career-high 35 points. The streak also includes one overtime game, a 77-72 final on Nov. 26, 2013 which was Daemen's first-ever ECC victory. 

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Redshirt sophomore center Andrew Sischo headlines Daemen's returning players. After earning first team All-ECC and ECC Rookie of the Year honors last season, Sischo was named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year for 2018-19. An eight-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection in 2017-18, Sischo was downright dominant on the interior last season as he led the team in points (462), points per game (15.4), made field goals (195), field goal percentage (56.5%), rebounds (261), rebounds per game (8.7) and blocked shots (25). His point total established a new team record for scoring by a freshman, eclipsing the previous mark of 420 set by Brian Montanaro during the 2002-03 season. He was also the first Daemen player with more than 200 rebounds in a season since Gerald Beverly (373 in 2014-15), and his rebound total is second among freshmen players in team history. Appearing in all 30 games, Sischo reached double-figure scoring 25 times and totaled seven double-doubles. Sischo led all ECC freshmen and ranked among the league's overall leaders in scoring (seventh), rebounding (second) and field goal percentage (third). He was Daemen's first major award winner from the conference since Beverly earned ECC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, and the first freshman to earn first team All-ECC honors since John Petrucelli of Molloy College in the 2010-11 season. To start the 2018-19 campaign, Sischo posted double-doubles in the first six games this season, including a 32-point, 18-rebound effort in a win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 5. He was named to the all-tournament team at the season-opening ECC-CACC Challenge, and has been named the ECC Player of the Week three times. For the season, Sischo is shooting 60 percent from the field and averaging 21.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He presently ranks among the league, regional and national leaders in scoring (ECC - 2nd; region - 5th; national - 29th), rebounding (ECC, region - 1st; national - 5th) and double-doubles (ECC, region - 2nd; national - 8th). 

THE HAMILTON PRODUCTION
Redshirt senior guard/forward Deion Hamilton has returned to the lineup after missing the final 20 games of the 2017-18 season. The 6-foot-4 slasher provides another viable scoring option for the Wildcats with a career scoring average of 11.2 points per game. Hamilton was leading the team in scoring (15.1 ppg) through the first 10 games last season, while also chipping in 4.2 rebounds per game. He's also been a two-time all-tournament team pick at the season-opening ECC-CACC Challenge. Daemen is 18-7 since the start of the 2016-17 season when Hamilton shoots 50 percent or better from the field. He registered just the second double-double of his career (12 points, 10 rebounds) in a recent win over Slippery Rock, and scored a season-high 24 points in Daemen's 78-70 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 5, 11 of which came in a game-closing 20-7 run. For the season, he's averaging 13.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 3.6 assists per game.

SEEING RED-BAND
Over his first two collegiate seasons, forward Jeff Redband established himself as one of the preeminent three-point shooters in the ECC. In the 2016-17 season, Redband canned 68-of-151 three-point attempts becoming the first Daemen freshman with more than 50 triples since Brian Montanaro's 70 in 2002-03. He followed that up by shooting 69-for-169 from deep last season, becoming the first Daemen player with 60 or more three-pointers in back-to-back seasons since Montanaro did so in four straight seasons from 2002-06. A third team All-ECC pick in 2017-18, Redband averaged 11.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, while finishing third in three-point field goals and sixth in three-point shooting percentage among the ECC leaders. Redband recently became just the seventh player in team history to reach 150 three-point field goals in a career. He is off to a fast start this season, averaging 13.7 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from three-point range. He ranks among the ECC leaders in three-point field goals (4th) and three-point field goal percentage (4th). He was named to the ECC-CACC Challenge all-tournament team after helping Daemen pick up wins over Caldwell and Nyack, and registered his first 20-point game since the 2015-16 season in a win over Slippery Rock. He was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week after grabbing a team-high six rebounds to go with two steals and two blocks in a win over Lake Erie. 

BREAKOUT BREON
Junior guard Breon Harris enjoyed a breakout season in 2017-18, and has helped Daemen to wins in 24 of 27 games since he was inserted into the starting lineup. After producing just 3.1 points on 31.8 percent shooting while coming off the bench in the team's first 11 games last season, Harris contributed 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game, while shooting 51.4 percent from the field as a starter. After totaling just just three three-pointers in the first 21 games of his career, Harris has made at least one in 26 of the last 28 games (48 total three-point field goals in that span). A third team All-ECC and ECC All-Tournament Team selection, Harris finished the 2017-18 season averaging 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He finished second in the ECC in total steals with 70, becoming the first Daemen player with more than 60 steals in a season since Casey Sheehan (68) during the 2012-13 campaign. Harris opened the 2018-19 season by earning MVP honors at the ECC-CACC Challenge where he averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists while leading Daemen to wins over Caldwell and Nyack. He has heated up of late, registering back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career. Harris knocked down five three-pointers and totaled 22 points in a road win at NYIT on Dec. 16, and followed up with 23 points and five steals in a home win over St. Michael's on Dec. 29. For the season, he's producing 13.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game. 

QUINN-ING
Daemen has gotten great production out of redshirt senior forward Quinn Lee Yaw so far this season. The 6-foot-5 Jamestown native is leading the ECC in field goal percentage (66.1%) and producing 9.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Lee Yaw has reached double-figure scoring in four of the last five games, including a season-best 21 points in a road win at NYIT on Dec. 16. The 2018-19 season marks Lee Yaw's first with actual game action since 2015-16. He began his career at Division II Edinboro where he appeared in 41 games over two seasons. He later transferred to Division I St. Bonaventure where he made the team as a walk-on, but had to sit out per NCAA transfer rules. He was forced to sit out the 2017-18 season after transferring to Daemen, again per the NCAA transfer rules. The Lee Yaw name is a familiar one in local basketball circles as he earned Co-Player of the Year honors in the Erie County Interscholastic Conference and second team All-Western New York honors while leading Jamestown High School to a section title in his senor season. 

SHINING STAR-KIS
Redshirt junior guard Jay Sarkis returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the majority of November and December with an injury. Sarkis scored the go-ahead bucket in what turned out to be a 64-55 win over St. Michael's, and totaled nine points, four rebounds and three assists in his return. 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 that season as he appeared in all 29 games while making 26 starts, and averaging 8.5 points and 2.3 assists per game that season. In 30 games last season, Sarkis produced 12.5 points and a team-best 3.6 assists per game and earned third team All-ECC honors. Sarkis finished the season ranking among the ECC leaders in total minutes (1,057 - 3rd),  minutes per game (35.2 - 5th), three-point field goal percentage (42.5 - 5th), three-point field goals (68 - 4th), total assists (106 - 3rd) and assists per game (3.5 - 6th). 

GARV-ELOUS
Daemen has become reliant on the steady play of senior guard Darius Garvin who has appeared in 92 of a possible 96 games while making 74 starts over the course of his career. Each season he's increased his statistical impact on the team, and he was voted as the team's MVP by his teammates in 2017-18. Only fellow backcourt mate Jay Sarkis logged more minutes than Garvin's 1,022 last season. He finished the year averaging 9.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Garvin was one of only two players in the ECC to record double-figure points, rebounds and assists at some point during last season. Daemen was 12-3 last season and 22-6 since the start of the 2015-16 season when Garvin scores 10 or more points in a game. He has been slowed by an injury so far this season, exiting just four minutes into Daemen's second game of the season vs. Nyack on Nov. 10. Garvin was out of the lineup when Daemen suffered its only loss of the season (Nov. 14 at Mercyhurst), but returned for the Nov. 24 game vs. Slippery Rock. Garvin came off the bench to log 29 minutes against The Rock, and made perhaps the biggest play of the game, connecting on a hanging jumper with under two minutes to play after SRU had cut a comfortable Daemen lead to just four points. Garvin was again out of the lineup in mid-December, but made his return to the starting lineup Saturday vs. St. Michael's. 

STARTING 1-0
Daemen's 75-60 win over Caldwell on Nov. 9 extended their winning streak in season openers to 17, a streak that dates back to the 2002-03 season. The wins in that span have come over 14 different opponents. Fisher (Mass.), Wilfrid Laurier (Ont.) and Caldwell 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 23.8 points per game; in the team's six season openers since beginning to play a full Division II schedule, the average margin of victory is 18.2 points per game. Just two games - a 68-65 final over Toronto in 2011, and a 62-57 final over Felician in 2017 - have been decided by single digits. Daemen has gone over 100 points in three of the last seven season openers; the high-water mark came in 2013 when they downed Ohio Valley 111-90. 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.

DEFENDING THE DEN
Daemen posted a 12-3 record at the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium last season, reaching double-figure home wins for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. The Wildcats have opened the 2018-19 campaign with five home wins, extending their home-court winning streak to nine in a row. Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 87-13 at Lumsden Gymnasium (.870 winning percentage). 

ST. ROSE SCOUTING REPORT 
St. Rose is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference, and the Golden Knights are led by first-year head coach Mike Perno. A longtime St. Rose assistant, Perno was named interim head coach following the retirement of veteran bench boss Brian Beaury who racked up 643 wins in more than 30 years with the program. The Golden Knights are coming off a 21-10 season, but their roster features more freshmen (8) than returners (7). Seniors Shane Herrity (11.3 ppg last season) and Matt Cerutti (9.9 ppg last season) headline the team's returners. Cerutti has increased his production (13.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg) this season, and the Golden Knights are being led by freshman forward Sekou Sylla (15.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and sophomore guard Adam Anderson (13.8 ppg, 45.6 3pt%). Sylla is leading the NE-10 in field goal percentage (57.8) and offensive rebounds per game (3.0). Herrity is contributing 8.9 points per outing, and he's recorded a team-high 46 assists. The Golden Knights will enter Monday's game looking to snap a three-game slide. Their last two losses have come against nationally-ranked Bentley (80-63 on Dec. 10) and St. Thomas Aquinas (78-73 on Dec. 17). 

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. St. Rose: 1-1
Streak: Won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 68, St. Rose 60 | Dec. 31, 2017 | Albany, N.Y.
More Details

DID YOU KNOW?
* Since joining the ECC in 2013-14, Daemen is 3-2 in games against Northeast-10 Conference opponents
* Since the start of the 2009-10 season, Daemen is 66-2 when scoring at least 90 points
* Daemen is holding opponents to just 38.4 percent shooting this season, ranking first in the East Region for field goal percentage defense; St. Rose ranks 38th (out of 39), allowing 48.0 percent shooting to opponents
* Monday's game marks the third straight season that Daemen and St. Rose have met; all three meetings have occurred on New Year's Eve

UP NEXT
In a game that the experts from D2easthoops.org have billed as the East Region's "game of the year", Daemen will host nationally-ranked St. Anselm for a 12 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday.