#8 / #8 DAEMEN WILDCATS (10-1, 0-0 ECC) vs. MERCY MAVERICKS (1-8, 0-1 ECC)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13
VICTORY HALL (DOBBS FERRY, N.Y.) - 7:00 PM

FASTBREAK POINTS: 10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
1. Daemen plays their first East Coast Conference road game of the season - and just their second true road game overall - Friday night at Mercy.
2. The Wildcats are riding a 10-game winning streak into Friday's contest. It ranks as the longest winning streak of Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present), and is the Wildcats' second streak of that length in the last two seasons. It also presently ranks as the longest active streak among all Division II teams, and the second-longest streak across all NCAA divisions. Only Division I Liberty (11 straight wins) has won more games in a row.
3. Daemen extended their winning streak last Saturday with a 96-70 rout of rival Roberts Wesleyan at Lumsden Gymnasium. Five players scored in double figures, led by Andrew Sischo (27 points, 11 rebounds). Daemen's 12-point halftime lead was trimmed to three with under 14:30 to play, but the Wildcats outscored RWC 44-21 from there. It marked Daemen's 16th straight home win and also their 18th consecutive win in the series with RWC. 
4. Mercy comes in looking to snap a three-game slide following a 74-68 loss to Nyack earlier this week. Three of their last four games have been decided by six points or less, including a 64-60 defeat of Georgian Court for the first and only win of the season to date.   
5. Daemen is a top-10 ranked team in both Division II national polls for the first time in program history. The Wildcats have been ranked in 12 consecutive NABC top-25 polls, rising to No. 8 this week. Daemen is also ranked eighth in the D2SIDA national media poll. Both positions represent Daemen's highest ascent up the national rankings. 
6. The game will feature two of the best big men in the East Region as Daemen's Andrew Sischo goes toe-to-toe with Mercy's Bryan Griffin. Both players are among the ECC leaders in scoring and rebounding. Sischo comes in averaging league-highs of 25.4 points and 14.0 rebounds per game. He leads the country with 10 double-doubles this season. Griffin is getting 19.2 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. He's coming off a career-high 26 rebounds Tuesday vs. Nyack, and averaged 24.0 points and 13.0 rebounds in two games vs. Daemen last season.
7. Daemen is unbeaten (13-0) in the all-time series with Mercy. The Wildcats posted the largest margin of victory in the series when the teams last met, winning 89-69 at Lumsden Gymnasium last March. Daemen needed some late heroics to survive in an earlier meeting at Mercy. Breon Harris scored five points in the final 25 seconds to help Daemen erase a four-point deficit in a 75-74 thriller. It marked Daemen's second one-point win in the series.  
8. Jay Sarkis has scored 10+ points in back-to-back games for the first time this season. The redshirt senior guard netted 11 points last Wednesday vs. Salem, and followed up with a season-high 14 points vs. Roberts Wesleyan. He canned five three-pointers in those contests, his most in a two-game stretch this season. He also enters Friday's game with 271 career assists - one shy of tying Monty Montgomery for 10th in program history.
9. Daemen has won three straight games by 25+ points - the first time they've achieved such a streak since the first four games of the 2012-13 season when the team was playing an independent schedule while beginning their transition to NCAA membership.
10. After making a season-low five three-pointers in a 67-65 win over Mercyhurst on Nov. 14, the Wildcats are averaging 11.0 made threes in the six games since. Daemen made 10+ threes in five successive games from Nov. 16 through Dec. 4, including a season-high 14 in a win at U. Sciences on Nov. 30.

MERCY SCOUTING REPORT

• Mercy is led by third-year head coach Michael Maczko who has led the team to a 19-45 record to date. Maczko presided over a 10-win season in 2017-18, an increase of eight wins over the previous season.
• The Mavericks return five players and two starters from their 2018-19 team that went 8-18 overall and 6-12 in ECC play.
• Bryan Griffin headlines the Mercy returners after earning All-ECC First Team honors last season. The 6-foot-8 redshirt junior forward has recorded five double-doubles this season - including the last three games - and is producing 19.2 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. He first in blocks (17), second in rebounding and third in scoring among the ECC leaders, and is coming off a 17-point, 26-rebound outing vs. Nyack earlier this week.
• Newcomer Nakeem Hamilton (13.0 ppg) and returner Matthew Alectus (11.2 ppg) are also scoring in double figures. Alectus has missed the last four games.
• After dropping their first five games this season by an average margin of 25.2 points, three of their last four have been decided by six points or less, including a 64-60 win over Georgian Court - their lone win of the season to date.
• The Mavericks are coming off a 74-68 loss to Nyack, and enter Friday's game looking to snap a three-game slide.
• After facing Daemen on Friday, the Mavericks will have played against all four East Region teams that are currently included in the NABC top-25 national poll. The Mavericks have suffered earlier losses to #23 Pace (99-64), #24 St. Thomas Aquinas (71-52) and #25 Dominican (101-74).

SERIES HISTORY VS. MERCY
All-Time Series: Daemen 13-0
At Mercy: Daemen 6-0
Current Streak: Daemen won 13
Last Meeting: Daemen 89, Mercy 69 | Mar. 1, 2019 | at Amherst, N.Y. 

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 115-44 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 371-270.

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. 

GOING STREAKING
Daemen enters Friday's game riding a 10-game winning streak. It's the Wildcats' second streak of that length in that last two seasons, matching the longest winning streak of the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). It's also Daemen's fourth winning streak of at least nine games since the start of the 2017-18 campaign. Daemen's 10-game winning streak ranks as the longest active streak among all Division II teams, and the second-longest streak across all NCAA divisions. Additional active winning streaks (as of Dec. 12) include...
1. Liberty (Division I): 11
T2. San Diego State (Division I): 10
T2. DAEMEN (DIVISION II): 10
T3. Ohio State (Division I): 9
T3. Fayetteville State (Division II): 9
T3. West Chester (Division II): 9
T3. West Texas A&M (Division II): 9
T3. Lincoln Memorial (Division II): 9
T3. Texas Permian Basin (Division II): 9
T3. Middlebury (Division III): 9
T3. Randolph-Macon (Division III): 9
T3. Swarthmore (Division III): 9
T3. Widener (Division III): 9
T3. Babson (Division III): 9
T3. Colby (Division III): 9
T3. Emory (Division III): 9
T3. Yeshiva (Division III): 9

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. The Wildcats have won 31 of their last 33 home games dating back to the 2017-18 season, as well as their last 16 in a row - their longest streak at home since winning 44 straight from 2011-15. Daemen is also unbeaten in 16 straight non-conference home games. Since joining the ECC (2013-14 season), Daemen is 49-9 in home conference games (.844 winning percentage). Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 104-14 at home (.881 winning percentage). Of those 14 losses, six have been decided by three points or fewer, including three by just a single point. Daemen's current home-court winning streak ranks as the fifth-longest active streak among all Division II teams....
1. West Texas A&M: 32
2. Missouri Southern State: 21
3. Northwest Missouri State: 20
4. St. Edward's 18
5. DAEMEN: 16
6. Wisconsin-Parkside: 15

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), and have since risen to No. 8 in the NABC poll and No. 8 in the D2SIDA poll out earlier this week, marking their highest ascent in both. Daemen has been ranked in 12 successive NABC polls, and 14 of the last 15 D2SIDA polls dating back to last January. The Wildcats are also ranked No. 1 in the D2SIDA East Region media poll this week, a spot they've laid claim to in 11 of the last 12 regional media polls dating back to last January. 

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. 

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). 

DOWNTOWN DEBUT
Daemen's first-ever game at KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo was a successful one on Nov. 23 as the Wildcats rallied for an 83-81 win over upset-minded Wilmington. After opening up an early nine-point lead, the tables turned and Daemen trailed by as many as seven points in the second half. Wilmington led for more than 22 minutes in the game, but a deep three-pointer by Breon Harris with 32 seconds remaining put Daemen ahead. Harris came up with a steal on Wilmington's final possession to help seal the deal. He finished with a season-high 21 points, and Andrew Sischo tossed in 24 points and eight rebounds as well. Joey Wallace keyed the comeback by shooting 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the second half. The game was played as a part of a doubleheader with Big 4 rivals Canisius and St. Bonaventure taking the floor afterwards. It marked the first doubleheader at Buffalo's largest indoor sporting venue invovling local teams since 2015. 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. 

YOU CAN COME HOME AGAIN
Daemen's game at KeyBank Center was a return 14 years in the making for Daemen head coach Mike MacDonald. The longtime bench boss coached in more than 40 games at the downtown arena from 1996-2005 while working at Canisius (including stints as an assistant and head coach). It marked his first game coached in the building since a 79-59 loss to Rider in the 2005 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament (Mar. 5, 2005). MacDonald is the all-time leader for coaching wins at KeyBank Center. The Daemen win there over Wilmington extended his career record to 18-11 in the building, and was his first victory there since a 62-60 triumph over Marist on March 4, 2005.   

COMEBACK KIDS
Daemen is quickly developing a reputation as a team that won't be buried. Six of their wins this season have featured second-half comebacks. Here is a summary of deficits overcome this season:
vs. Missouri Western: 10 points (1st half); 5 points (under 7 minutes to play)
vs. Felician: 17 points (1st half); 11 points (halftime)
vs. Nyack: 3 points (under 3 minutes to play)
vs. Mercyhurst: 8 points (under 10 minutes to play)
vs. Le Moyne: 9 points (under 6 minutes to play)
vs. Wilmington: 7 points (under 8 minutes to play)

WRANGLING THE REDHAWKS
Daemen has won 17 straight (and 24 of the last 25) meetings with Roberts Wesleyan. It ranks as Daemen's longest active winning streak against any single opponent, and one of three that have reached double figures (also 13 straight vs. Mercy, 16 straight vs. Houghton). Eleven of the last 17 meetings have been decided by nine points or fewer. The closest margin was a 98-96 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. 

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen is allowing just 62.0 points per game over their last three outings. In decisive wins over U. Sciences (83-57), Salem (89-59) and Roberts Wesleyan (96-70), the Wildcats limited the three opponents to just 41 percent shooting overall (67-for-162) and a chilly 30 percent from three-point range (22-for-72). They held back-to-back opponents under 60 points for the first time since wins over St. Michael's (64-55) and St. Rose (74-55) in late December of 2018. Daemen recorded a season-high 11 steals in the win over U. Sciences, and added 10 more thefts against Salem - their first consecutive games with 10+ steals since a three-game string in January of 2014 (vs. Dominican, District of Columbia, Dowling). For the season, Daemen is allowing 72.5 points per game, second-best among all ECC teams.

LET IT FLY
After making a season-low five three-pointers in a 67-65 win over Mercyhurst on Nov. 14, Daemen is averaging 11.0 made threes in the six games since.. The Wildcats hit 10+ three in five straight games from Nov. 16 to Dec. 4, including a season-high 14 in a road win at U. Sciences. It's the first such five-game streak in recent history. You have to go back to the final two games of the 2014-15 season and the first two of 2015-16 to find a consecutive four-game stretch where the Wildcats hit 10 or more threes. The Wildcats rank 10th in the country with 108 total three-pointers, and also second among ECC teams with a three-point shooting percentage of .365. 

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 also became 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 for the second straight season. Through 11 games this year, Sischo is averaging monster numbers (25.4 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 66.1% FG). He's posted nine 20-point games, and has topped 30 points three times. He leads the country in rebounding, and also ranks sixth in scoring and 15th in field goal percentage. Already this season, he's been named to the SCB National Hall of Fame Classic all-tournament team, MVP of the ECC-CACC Challenge, a two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week, a three-time ECC Player of the Week and a two-time U.S. Basketball Writers Association Men's Division II National Player of the Week.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE YOUR DELIGHTMENT
Andrew Sischo has been a double-double machine this season, racking up 10 of them through the Wildcats' first 11 games, a total that presently leads the country. He opened the season with seven consecutive double-doubles, and has three this season that include 30-point outputs. Sischo, who ranked sixth nationally with 17 double-doubles last season, has totaled 35 of them in 69 career games - the most for a Daemen player since Gerald Beverly totaled 46 in his career spanning 2011-15. 

CLIMBING THE LADDER
With each passing game, Andrew Sischo continues to climb among Daemen's all-time statistical leaders. In 69 career games, Sischo has totaled 1,326 points and 698 rebounds. He stands as one of only five players in program history with at least 1,200 points and 600 rebounds. He ranks 10th all-time in scoring, just five points shy of passing Rob Lange (1992-96) for ninth place. He also ranks fifth in career rebounding and seventh in made field goals (533). 

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 99 games since the start of the 2016-17 season, making 96 starts and helping Daemen to a 75-24 record. He has totaled 1,136 points, 461 rebounds, 247 three-point field goals and 79 blocks in his career. He recently moved past Kharmen Wingard for third place on Daemen's all-time three-point field goals list, and he stands 41 shy of Montanaro's program record (288). He also ranks 16th in points and seventh in blocks among Daemen's all-time leaders. Redband has made at least one three-pointer in 42 of the last 45 games, and has made five or more 15 times in his career. He leads the team and the ECC with 31 three-pointers (ranks 19th nationally) this season, and is producing 11.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. 

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. He's producing 12.1 points per game and leads the team in steals (13) this season. 

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 91 of a possible 100 games (excluding a redshirt season in 2016-17), while making 85 starts. He's recorded at least one three-pointer in 75 games, totaling 159 triples in his career (8th in team history). 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). Sarkis dished out a season-high eight assists in Daemen's 89-59 win over Salem on Dec. 4 - the 21st game in his career with five or more. He's totaled 874 points and 271 assists in his career, and stands one assist shy of tying Monty Montgomery for 10th in program history. Sarkis is seeing 32.7 minutes per game, and producing 7.4 points and 2.9 assists per outing this season. 

WALK WITH WALLACE
Redshirt senior wing Joey Wallace is the most experienced of Daemen's 10 newcomers this season. The son of former Syracuse star and NBA veteran John Wallace, Joey Wallace came 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. He's made an immediate impact here with the Wildcats, starting all contests thus far and producing 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, a team-high 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has had five games with 10+ points, including a season-high 19 vs. nationally-ranked West Liberty on Nov. 16. He's also making his mark at the defensive end, routinely matching up with the opposition's top perimeter player. Wallace has twice been named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week this season. 

FRESH FACES
The Wildcats welcome 10 new players to the fold this season to round out a large 20-player roster. Buffalo natives Donte' Williams and Kyle Harris are 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. Freshmen Keith Slack and Ryan Salzberg are expected to compete for minutes in the backcourt.

NEXT JUMP BALL
A big early-season ECC contest looms Sunday as Daemen visits nationally-ranked (#24/#17) St. Thomas Aquinas.