Daemen Ranked #18 In D2SIDA Preseason National Poll

11/6/2019 6:02:00 PM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College is ranked No. 18 in the Division II Sports Information Directors of American Men's Basketball preseason national poll. It marks the second national ranking for the Wildcats already this season. Daemen is also presently ranked No. 22 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches preseason top-25 poll which was released last month. Daemen is included in the preseason national rankings for the first time since transitioning to NCAA Division II.

Daemen was ranked in nine of the final 10 D2SIDA national polls during the 2018-19 season. They made their first-ever appearance in the D2SIDA rankings on Jan. 8, debuting at No. 14. The Wildcats rose as high as 10th in the country. Combined with the NABC poll, Daemen was ranked 16 times before finishing the year with a 24-6 overall record and a 16-2 mark in East Coast Conference play. Daemen captured its second ECC regular-season championship, and gained their first-ever NCAA tournament berth. Ten players return to the fold, including four starters. The group is headlined by redshirt-junior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) who was recently named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year for the second time.

In addition to their national rankings, Daemen is tied at No. 1 atop the D2SIDA East Region media poll, and the Wildcats have been picked first in the ECC preseason coaches poll.

Coach Mike MacDonald's Wildcats opened the 2019-20 campaign this past weekend at the prestigious Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic in St. Joseph, Mo. Daemen split their two games at the event, falling to defending national champion Northwest Missouri State University (85-65) before defeating the quasi-tournament host, Missouri Western State University (68-64) who was playing less than 10 miles from their campus.

The Wildcats will tip-off in front of their home crowd this weekend (Nov. 8-9) as they host the ECC-CACC Challenge presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC. Daemen takes on Felician University in their regular season home opener with tip-off slated for 8 p.m. Friday night.

D2SIDA Men's Basketball Preseason National Poll
1. Northwest Missouri State (14)
2. Nova Southeastern
3. West Liberty
4. Ballarmine
5. West Texas A&M
6. UC-San Diego
7. Queens (N.C.)
8. Indiana (Pa.)
9. Missouri Southern State
10. St. Edward's
11. Augusta
12. St. Anselm
T-13. Lincoln Memorial
T-13. Southern Indiana
15. Southern Nazarene
16. Alabama-Huntsville
17. Colorado Mines
18. DAEMEN
T-19. Florida Southern
T-19. Findlay
21. Concordia (Calif.)
22. Davenport
23. Valdosta State
24. Washburn
25. Seattle Pacific
( ) - first-place votes

Receiving Votes: Northern State, East Stroudsburg, New Haven, Texas A&M-Commerce, Ashland, Tarleton State, Indianapolis

Daemen College features the only NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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