#17 / #10 DAEMEN WILDCATS (6-1, 0-0 ECC) vs. WILMINGTON WILDCATS (0-4, 0-0 CACC)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 | 12 PM
BUFFALO, N.Y. | KEYBANK CENTER

JUMP BALL
The nationally-ranked Daemen Wildcats take center stage Saturday when they play their first-ever game at KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo. Daemen welcomes the Wilmington Wildcats to The City of Good Neighbors for the contest which will be played as part of a downtown doubleheader. Big 4 rivals Canisius and St. Bonaventure will meet in the second game of the day. Daemen brings three substantial winning streaks into the contest which will be considered a home game. Daemen has won six straight games overall, 13 straight home games and 14 straight non-conference home games. Those streaks were extended earlier this week when they gutted out an 89-79 come-from-behind win over regional rival Le Moyne. It was Daemen's third win this season against a team that advanced to the NCAA tournament last March. Daemen and Wilmington will be meeting for the fifth time in their histories today, and for the third time in Daemen's NCAA Division II era. Daemen has emerged victorious in the last two meetings. Wilmington posted a 12-17 record last season, and is 0-4 so far this season. 

EVERYTHING'S WAITING FOR YOU DOWNTOWN
Daemen will be making their first-ever appearance at KeyBank Center, downtown Buffalo's largest sports venue, on Saturday. The 19,000-seat arena has been the site of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament six times since its opening in 1996. The Daemen-Wilmington game comes as part of a doubleheader with Division I teams from Canisius and St. Bonaventure hitting the KeyBank hardwood that day as well.

WHAT A RIDE
The 2018-19 season was one for the record books at Daemen as the Wildcats captured their second East Coast Conference regular season title, sat atop the regional rankings for much of the campaign, ascended into the top-25 national polls for the first time as an NCAA Division II member and garnered the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. The Wildcats rattled off wins in 11 of their first 12 games, including a 78-72 defeat of previously unbeaten St. Anselm who came into the Jan. 2 contest ranked No. 4 in both Division II national polls. Daemen embarked on a 10-game winning streak beginning in mid-January, a stretch that vaulted them to the top of the regional poll and as high as No. 10 (D2SIDA) and No. 13 (NABC) in the top-25 national polls. It marked the Wildcats' longest winning streak since the 2013-14 season when they won 14 consecutive games. The Wildcats wrapped up the ECC regular season title with a 93-71 defeat of Bridgeport on March 3. They entered the ECC Championship tournament as the No. 1 seed, but were upset by fourth-seeded Bridgeport in game played at UB's Hubbell Gymnasium. Despite the conference tournament loss, Daemen was awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, earning the No. 5 seed to the East Region Championship. They made their NCAA tourney debut March 16, but saw their season come to an end with a 72-67 loss to fourth-seeded New Haven. The team's 24 wins this season were the most since their transition to NCAA Division Ii.

BECOMING THE NORM
Daemen's 108-63 win over LIU Post last Feb. 15 was their 20th of the 2018-19 season. It marked Daemen's sixth 20-win campaign in the last eight seasons. Daemen has not won less than 19 games in a season since the 2010-11 campaign. Finishing the year at 24-6, it marked the program's most in a season since going 27-6 during the 2012-13 campaign, a year before the Wildcats began play as members of the East Coast Conference. 

TUNE-UPS
In preparation for the 2019-20 regular season, Daemen played a trio of exhibition contests, including two against highly-touted Division I programs Buffalo and Syracuse. Despite having just seven days of practice under their belt, Daemen opened the brief exhibition season with a 111-73 loss against a Buffalo team that spent the majority of the 2018-19 season ranked among the top-25 teams in the country, finishing the year with a 32-4 overall record and a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Less than 48 hours later the Wildcats made their first-ever appearance at the iconic Carrier Dome on the campus of SU, falling to the Orange and legendary head coach Jim Boeheim 90-71. It left as a decent a feeling as one can have following a 19-point defeat at the Wildcats played SU even (43-43) over the final 20 minutes. The exhibition slate wrapped up on Oct. 29 with Daemen blasting Mohawk (116-54) out of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. Andrew Sischo led the Wildcats by averaging 18.3 points and 10.3 rebounds over the three contests. He put up 28 points and 12 rebounds against Buffalo, numbers that no player has achieved against the Bulls in the last three seasons, and followed up with another double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds) at Syracuse. Breon Harris netted a team-high 23 points at the Carrier Dome, and finished the exhibition slate averaging 10.7 points per game. Newcomer Joey Wallace also made his presence felt, averaging 10.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. 

SMALL COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL HALL OF FAME CLASSIC
Daemen opened the 2019-20 season in prestigious fashion as they were selected to take part in the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic held at the St. Joseph (Mo.) Civic Arena. In a battle of nationally-ranked teams, Daemen fell 85-65 in their season opener against No. 1 Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats, who have won two of the last three national titles, extended their winning streak to 39 games, despite being outscored (55-54) over the middle 30 minutes of the contest. Daemen's Andrew Sischo impressed against the highly-touted Bearcats as he recorded the 26th double-double of his career, finishing with 24 points and 15 rebounds. The Wildcats regrouped for a come-from-behind win the following night against Missouri Western State, the quasi-tournament host playing less than 10 miles from their campus. A game-closing 15-6 run over the final 5:29 lifted the Wildcats past the Griffons. Newcomer Kyle Harris netted the go-ahead bucket at the 1:41 mark, part of his 11-point outing off the bench. 

ECC-CACC CHALLENGE DOMINANCE
Daemen continued its winning ways at the ECC-CACC Challenge, earning home victories over Felician (95-80) on Nov. 8, and Nyack (80-74) on Nov. 9. Both games featured come-from-behind efforts. The Wildcats erased a 17-point first-half deficit in the win over Felician. After trailing by 11 at halftime, Daemen erupted for 56 second-half points, outscoring the Golden Falcons by 26 in the period. Andrew Sischo (31 points, 19 rebounds) scored 22 second-half points to lead the surge. Sischo was at it again vs. Nyack, finishing with 34 points and 17 boards en route to tournament MVP honors. The Wildcats led for most of the game, but found themselves trailing by three late in the second half. An old-fashioned three-point play by Sischo sparked a decisive 11-2 run down the stretch that included back-to-back trifectas by Jay Sarkis. Sischo, an ECC-CACC Challenge all-tournament team selection for the third straight year, was joined on the all-tournament team by Sarkis and senior guard Breon Harris who collected his first career double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) in the win over Nyack. 

HURST CURSE DASHED
Daemen exorcised some demons with a 67-65 defeat of Mercyhurst on Nov. 14. It marked the Wildcats' first win over Lakers since 2013, and just their second in the series overall. Andrew Sischo produced a double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Joey Wallace put up 18 points, five boards, three assists and two steals to lead the way. The Wildcats and Lakers have met in seven successive seasons with five of those contests being decided by six points or less. 

TOPPLING THE TOPPERS
Daemen posted a wire-to-wire 98-83 win over nationally-ranked West Liberty on Nov. 16. The Hilltoppers came into the game ranked in the top-five of both national polls for Division II (No. 4 NABC; No. 3 D2SIDA), and have routinely been among the nation's highest scoring teams, including in 2018-19 when they ranked first in scoring (100.9 ppg). The Hilltoppers came in averaging 130.5 points per game following two lopsided wins over Mansfield and Shaw, but Daemen was the aggressor from the get-go and built an 18-point advantage late in the first half. West Liberty would cut the deficit to seven points several times in the second half, but Daemen charged back and eventually cruised to the 15-point win. Andrew Sischo was dominant inside (29 points on 12-of-13 shooting, 18 rebounds), and the Wildcats got additional scoring from Joey Wallace (19 points), Breon Harris (17), Kyle Harris (11) and Jeff Redband (10). 

COMEBACK KIDS
Five of Daemen's six wins this season have featured second-half comebacks. Most recently, the Wildcats overcame a nine-point deficit with under seven minutes to play in their 89-79 win over regional rival Le Moyne. The Wildcats embarked on a 25-6 run covering the final 6:11 of the contest to win their first meeting with the Dolphins since the 2004-05 season. 

DEFENDING THE DEN
Daemen has posted 10 or more home wins seven times in the last eight seasons, including a 15-1 mark in 2018-19 that established a new benchmark for home-court wins in a single season. Daemen's 14th home win of the season came on March 1 with an 89-69 defeat of Mercy, matching the prior team record which was established during both the 1999-2000 and 2016-17 seasons. The Wildcats broke that mark with a 93-71 win over Bridgeport in the regular-season finale on March 3. The Wildcats have won 28 of their last 30 home games dating back to the 2017-18 season, as well as their last 13 in a row. Daemen is also unbeaten in 14 straight non-conference home games. Since joining the ECC (2013-14 season), Daemen is 48-9 in home conference games (.842 winning percentage). Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 101-14 at Lumsden Gymnasium (.878 winning percentage). Of those 14 losses, six have been decided by three points or fewer, including three by just a single point.  

RETURN OF THE MAC
Mike MacDonald returns to the bench for his sixth season as Daemen's head coach, and his 23rd overall as a collegiate head coach. Since beginning to roam the Daemen sidelines, MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a 111-44 overall record. The Wildcats have won at least 19 games in each of MacDonald's five seasons, and the team's 107 victories in that span are the second most among all NCAA Division II programs in New York State, as well as all East Coast Conference teams. He recorded the 100th win of his Daemen tenure last Feb. 10 against Queens, placing him in an elite fraternity of coaches that have achieved at least 100 wins in each of the NCAA's three divisions. He went on to be named the East Coast Conference, NABC District and Basketball Coaches Association of New York Division II Coach of the Year following the 2018-19 season. 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 367-270.

YOU CAN COME HOME AGAIN
Saturday's game at KeyBank Center will be a return of sorts for Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald who has coached in more than 40 games at the downtown arena, including time spent as an assistant coach. MacDonald is the all-time leader in coaching wins in the building with a 17-11 career record there. Each of those games came during his stint as the head coach at Canisius from 1997-2006. The return is 14 years in the making as MacDonald will be coaching at the arena for the first time since the 2005 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
For the first time as a member of NCAA Division II, Daemen opened the season as a nationally-ranked team. The Wildcats were ranked in both preseason national polls for Division II (NABC poll No. 22; D2SIDA poll No. 18). The Wildcats have since risen to No. 17 in the NABC poll and No. 10 in the D2SIDA poll out earlier this week. The No. 10 ranking matches the team's highest-ever ascent in the D2SIDA poll. Daemen has been ranked in nine successive NABC polls, and 11 of the last 12 D2SIDA polls dating back to last January. The Wildcats are also ranked No. 1 in the D2SIDA East Region media poll this week. 

GREAT ECC-XPECTATIONS
For the first time since joining the East Coast Conference, the league's coaches have predicted a first-place finish for Daemen. The Wildcats sit atop the 2019-20 ECC preseason poll which was released in late October. Daemen amassed 80 total points in the poll, grabbing eight of nine first-place votes. St. Thomas Aquinas College picked up the remaining first-place vote, finishing with 72 points in the poll to sit at No. 2. The University of Bridgeport (64 points) and defending ECC tournament champion Molloy College (53 points) round out the top four teams. Daemen holds an 87-27 all-time record in ECC contests dating back to the 2013-14 season. Only St. Thomas Aquinas (89-24) holds more wins in ECC games during that time frame. The Wildcats have finished third or better in all six seasons since joining the league. 

C-A-C-C YOU LATER
Since joining the ECC in 2013, Daemen has been dominant in games against regional foes from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Wildcats are 15-3 against CACC opponents in the span, including a 14-2 mark since head coach Mike MacDonald took control in 2014. That includes a pair of wins already this season as Daemen downed Felician and Nyack as part of the ECC-CACC Challenge. Daemen brings an 11-game winning streak against CACC teams into Saturday's game vs. Wilmington. The Wildcats' last loss to a CACC team came Nov. 14, 2015 against Holy Family. 

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Redshirt-junior center Andrew Sischo headlines Daemen's returning players after earning East Coast Conference and Division II Conference Commissioner's Association East Region Player of the Year honors in 2018-19. A two-time first-team All-ECC selection, Sischo has been downright dominant in his career for the Wildcats. He has set new team benchmarks for points scored by a freshman (462) and sophomore (585), and is already one of only 10 players in program history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Sischo recorded 17 double-doubles last season, ranking first among all ECC players and sixth nationally, while also becoming just the sixth player in team history to average a double-double (20.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg) for an entire season. In late October he was named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, marking the second straight season that he's earned the accolade, and he's picked up right where he left off last season. Through seven games this year, Sischo is averaging monster numbers (25.4 ppg, 14.7 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 70.5% FG). He's posted seven straight double-doubles, and was named to the SCB National Hall of Fame Classic all-tournament team, MVP of the ECC-CACC Challenge, the ECC Defensive Player of the Week, a two-time ECC Player of the Week and a two-time U.S. Basketball Writers Association Men's Division II National Player of the Week. 

THREE-DICULOUS SHOOTING
Over the course of his career, forward Jeff Redband has established himself as one of the preeminent three-point shooters in the ECC, as well as among Daemen's all-time leaders. Redband is the first Daemen player with 60 or more three-pointers in three straight seasons since Brian Montanaro did so four straight times from 2002-06. A two-time All-ECC pick, including a second-team selection last season, Redband has appeared in all 95 games since the start of the 2016-17 season, making 92 starts and averaging 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He ranks fourth in team history with 233 three-point field goals, and he's made at least one trifecta in 38 of the last 41 games. 

BREAKOUT BREON
Senior guard Breon Harris was inserted into the starting lineup midway through the 2017-18 season, and went on to help Daemen wins in 41 of their next 49 contests (through the end of the 2018-19 season). He's been a third-team All-ECC selection in each of the last two seasons, and has also earned ECC Championships all-tournament team honors twice in his career. Harris swiped 70 steals as a sophomore, the third-highest single-season total in team history and making him the first player with at least 70 since Russell John totaled 73 in 1990-91. He added 53 steals to his career total last season, becoming just the fifth player to lead the Wildcats in steals at least twice, and the first player with 50+ steals in consecutive seasons since Mark Coppola in 2011-12 and 2012-13. He was named to the ECC-CACC Challenge all-tournament team for the second straight year after averaging 14.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists in Daemen wins over Felician and Nyack. Those contributions included the first double-double of his career, as he totaled 11 points and a career-high 11 boards vs. Nyack. 

SHINING STAR-KIS
Redshirt-senior guard Jay Sarkis has been a fixture in the Daemen lineup since arriving on campus in 2015. Sarkis has appeared in 87 of a possible 96 games (excluding a redshirt season in 2016-17), while making 81 starts. He's recorded at least one three-pointer in 72 games, totaling 153 triples in his career. He's just the eighth player in program history with at least 150 three-point field goals. Sarkis contributed 8.2 points and a team-best 3.1 assists per game in 2018-19. His finest season came a year earlier when he put up career-highs in points (372), assists (106) and rebounds (86), and finished the season ranking among the ECC's top-five statistical leaders in minutes (3rd), minutes per game (5th), three-point field goals (4th), three-point shooting percentage (5th) and assists (3rd).

FRESH FACES
The Wildcats welcome 10 new players to the fold this season to round out a large 20-player roster. While some of the newcomers are expected to redshirt, several are expected to make immediate impacts. Redshirt-senior guard Joey Wallace is the most experienced of the bunch. The son of former Syracuse star and NBA veteran John Wallace, Joey Wallace comes to Daemen with 85 games of Division II experience under his belt across parts of four seasons playing for Southern Connecticut State. The Rochester native contributed 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game across his tenure there. Buffalo natives Donte' Williams and Kyle Harris are also proven college players. Williams, a 6'4" guard/forward, has one season of remaining eligibility following previous stops at Southeastern Iowa Community College and California University (Pa.). He averaged 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for the Vulcans last season. Harris comes over after a prolific junior college career at Erie Community College where he played for head coach Alex Nwora, a Daemen graduate and inductee of the Daemen Hall of Fame. Harris brings a winning pedigree (47-17 record at ECC) and tremendous three-point shooting ability (166 three-pointers in the last two seasons) to the Wildcats. Big man Chris Luke (7'0", Jr., C) gives the Wildcats some depth at the center position and freshmen Keith Slack and Ryan Salzberg will compete for minutes.

WILMINGTON SCOUTING REPORT 
Wilmington is a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the Wildcats are led by head coach Dan Burke who is in his sixth season at the helm. Burke has guided the Wildcats to 67 wins and four CACC tournament berths since taking the reins of the program in 2014. He orchestrated a 19-10 campaign in 2016-17, marking the most successful season of Wilmington's Division II era. The Wildcats return seven players and three starters from their 2018-19 team that went 12-17 overall and 9-10 in CACC play. Wilmington earned a fourth-place finish in the CACC South Division and made their third straight conference tournament berth, but were bounced out in the quarterfinals by North Division top-seed Bloomfield. Redshirt-senior guard Jermaine Heads tops the list of returning players after leading the team in scoring (23.0 ppg) last season. Double-figure scorers Tyler Norwood (17.5 ppg), Omari Dill-Pettiford (12.3 ppg), Danny Walsh (12.1 ppg) and Jordan Harding (10.6 ppg) also return. The Wildcats were picked third in the CACC South Division preseason poll, but they'll enter Saturday's game still looking for their first win this season. Among WU's four losses this season is an 86-63 setback against nationally-ranked St. Anselm. The Wildcats are coming off a 77-69 loss to Shippensburg in their home opener last weekend. Head is producing a team-high 22.8 points per game. Wilmington is allowing opponents to score 92.5 points per game on over 52 percent shooting, and they rank 305th nationally with a -20.5 rebounding margin per game. 

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Wilmington: 3-1
Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: Daemen 79, Wilmington 73 | Nov. 18, 2017 | at Amherst, N.Y.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats play their first true road game of the season next Saturday, Nov. 30 when they visit U. Sciences in Philadelphia.