GAME #21 - PRESENTED BY COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT BUFFALO AMHERST/UNIVERSITY
DAEMEN WILDCATS (15-5, 4-2 ECC) vs. MOLLOY LIONS (7-9, 4-2 ECC)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24
LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.) - 8:00 PM

GAME #22 - PRESENTED BY COLLEGIATE VILLAGE 
DAEMEN WILDCATS vs. NEW YORK TECH BEARS (2-15, 1-5 ECC)
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26
LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.) - 3:00 PM

FASTBREAK POINTS: 10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAME
1. Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium for a two-game homestand this weekend with the Molloy Lions (Friday, Jan. 24) and New York Tech Bears (Sunday, Jan. 26) coming to town.   

2. Daemen is coming off a 65-61 win at District of Columbia on Jan. 19. It marked the Wildcats' seventh come-from-behind win of the season after trailing by 11 points with less than eight minutes to play. Daemen outscored UDC 23-8 down the stretch, getting the tying and go-ahead baskets from Joey Wallace in the final 75 seconds of the game. Wallace also recorded five assists in the win, making Daemen 9-1 this season when he totals at least three assists.      

3. Daemen will be looking to start a new home winning streak this weekend after having a 17-game streak snapped earlier this month with a 67-64 loss to Bridgeport. At the time, it was the fifth-longest home winning streak in Division I. Daemen is 9-1 at home this season, and the Wildcats have won 32 of their last 35 at home. Daemen is 105-15 at home since the start of the 2011-12 season.

4. Molloy posted the best season in their program history in 2018-19. They went 21-10 while capturing their first ECC Tournament crown and making their first NCAA Tournament appearance. 

5. Molloy has played the toughest schedule among ECC teams this season, and the Lions are 4-3 in games decided by four points or less. They are coming off their most lopsided win of the season, an 85-61 defeat of Mercy on Jan. 18.

6. The Wildcats and Lions have engaged in several close contests over the last several seasons. Their last three meetings at Lumsden Gymnasium have been decided by seven points combined. A buzzer-beating three-pointer by Nick Corbett delivered a 72-71 win here last season for the Lions, avenging their 102-98 double-overtime loss the year before. Six of their last meetings overall have been decided by eight points or less, and Daemen holds an 8-5 edge in the all-time series.

7. Daemen's Andrew Sischo has recorded back-to-back double-doubles, his NCAA Division II-leading 13th and 14th of the season. The redshirt junior center leads the ECC in scoring (25.4 ppg), made field goals (188), made free throws (101) and field goal percentage (.644), and also ranks second in rebounding (12.2 rpg). Sischo is averaging 30.0 points in four career games against Molloy.

8. Friday's game will feature the top two three-point shooters in the ECC this season. Daemen's Jeff Redband leads the league with 57 three-point field goals, and stands just 15 shy of Brian Montanaro's program record for threes made in a career (288). Molloy's Nick Corbett enters the weekend with 52 three-point field goals. 

9. Daemen's Jay Sarkis enters the game just two assists shy of 300 for his career, a milestone achieved by only seven players in program history to date.

10. Daemen is averaging 66.8 points and shooting 42.6% from the field and 33.1% from three-point range in six games this month. Daemen reached 80 points in 11 of their first 14 games, but haven't done so since a 96-88 win at St. Rose on Dec. 19.  


MOLLOY SCOUTING REPORT

• Molloy is led by veteran head coach Charles Marquardt – the longest tenured coach in the East Coast Conference – who is in the midst of his 26th season at the helm. Marquardt has led the Lions to 292 wins in his tenure.
• The 2018-19 season was a magical one for Marquardt and the Lions as they captured their first ECC Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Molloy finished 21-10 overall, marking the program's first-ever 20-win season.
• Molloy, which returns 11 players and three starters from last season's team, was picked fourth in the ECC preseason coaches' poll.
• Molloy has played the toughest schedule among ECC teams so far this season with their 16 opponents combining to go 150-125 (.545).
• The Lions snapped a three-game slide last Saturday with an 85-61 blowout of Mercy. Losses to ECC frontrunners Bridgeport (104-89) and St. Thomas Aquinas (93-67) were included in the recent losing streak.
• Senior guard Nick Corbett headlines the Molloy roster. He is one of only three players in the ECC to be averaging at least 20 points per game this season, ranking second (22.1 ppg) behind Daemen's Andrew Sischo. Corbett can score in a variety of ways, including from behind the three-point line where he's shooting 40%. Corbett's 52 three-point field goals ranks second in the ECC behind Daemen's Jeff Redband. Corbett is coming off a season-high 36 points in last Saturday's win over Mercy.
• Additional production is coming from senior forward Josh Dennis (13.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg), junior guard Steven Torre (9.7 ppg, 31 three-pointers) and sophomore forward Pano Pavlidis (7.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg).
• Ten different players have started at least one game.
• Molloy leads the ECC and ranks sixth nationally in rebounds per game (42.9). They hold a +4.7 rebounds per game margin, ranking third in the ECC and 55th nationally.
• Molloy has averaged 15.4 wins over the last seven seasons, winning at least 16 games five times in that stretch.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MOLLOY
All-Time Series: Daemen 8-5
At Daemen: Daemen 4-2
Current Streak: Daemen won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 89, Molloy 75 | Feb. 8, 2019 | at Rockville Centre, N.Y. 

NEW YORK TECH SCOUTING REPORT

• New York Tech is led by first-year head coach Evan Conti. A former standout guard at Division I Quinnipiac, Conti was named the team's interim head coach near the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, and had the interim tag removed last spring following a national coaching search. Conti will be tasked with building a New York Tech program that averaged just 4.8 wins over the previous four seasons.
• The Bears were picked seventh in the ECC preseason coaches' poll, but have found wins tough to come by thus far. They'll enter the weekend with a 2-15 overall record, and a 1-5 mark in ECC play. New York Tech visits Roberts Wesleyan on Friday night before closing the weekend at Daemen.
• The Bears snapped a season-opening eight-game losing streak with a 71-63 road win at Holy Family on Dec. 4. Their lone win since came at home against Mercy (75-51) on Jan. 8.
• The Bears return nine players and three starters from their 2018-19 team that finished 3-24 overall and 3-15 in conference play.
• The biggest return is that of redshirt senior forward Jeffrey Hayden who was limited to just two games last season due to injury. Hayden led the ECC in scoring in 2017-18, averaging 23.2 points per game. He is producing a team-high 16.4 points per game this season, but has also missed three of the last four games. 
• Additional production is coming from Brandon Redendo (9.3 ppg, 28 three-pointers), Marcus Saint-Furcy (9.1 ppg, 3.2 apg) and Opong Bramble (8.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg). 
• Jordan Fuchs, a 6-foot-6 forward who previously played both football and basketball at Division I Indiana, has joined the Bears roster since Jan. 1. He's averaging 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds over four games this month, and is coming off a 17-point outing vs. Bridgeport last weekend.

SERIES HISTORY VS. NEW YORK TECH
All-Time Series: Daemen 9-3
At Daemen: Daemen 5-1
Current Streak: Daemen won 8
Last Meeting: Daemen 87, New York Tech 72 | Feb. 17, 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 120-48 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 377-274.

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 has embarked on four winning streaks of at least nine games since the start of the 2018-19 season. Most recently, the Wildcats put together an 11-game winning streak, covering games played Nov. 2 through Dec. 13. The streak came to an end Dec. 15 following a seven-point loss to arch-nemesis St. Thomas Aquinas. The recent streak ranks as the longest of Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present), and it also ranked as the longest streak in Division II and the second-longest across all NCAA divisions at the time it was broken.

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 32 of their last 35 home games dating back to the 2017-18 season. They recently had a 17-game home winning streak - their longest since winning 44 straight from 2011-15. The recent streak was the fifth-longest home winning streak in Division II when it was snapped Jan. 12 vs. Bridgeport. Daemen is also unbeaten in 16 straight non-conference home games. Since joining the ECC (2013-14 season), Daemen is 50-10 in home conference games (.833 winning percentage). Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 105-15 at home (.875 winning percentage). Of those 15 losses, seven have been decided by three points or fewer, including three by just a single point.

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 as high as No. 8 in the NABC and D2SIDA polls, marking their highest ascent in both. Daemen had been ranked in 14 successive NABC polls, and 15 out of the 16 D2SIDA polls dating back to last January, before falling out of the national rankings in early January of 2020. The Wildcats are also ranked No. 4 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 91-29 all-time record in ECC contests dating back to the 2013-14 season. Only St. Thomas Aquinas (96-25) 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. Seven 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)
at Dist. Columbia: 11 points (under 8 minutes to play)

REPRESSING THE REDHAWKS
Daemen has won 18 straight (and 25 of the last 26) 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 18 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. 

TOURNAMENT TESTED
St. Anselm is the sixth opponent on Daemen's schedule that advanced to the NCAA tournament last season, the fifth that reached at least the Sweet 16 round, the third that reached the Elite 8 and the second the made it as far as the Final 4. The Wildcats are 3-2 against NCAA tournament teams so far this season, earning wins over Mercyhurst, West Liberty and Le Moyne. Losses have come against defending national champion Northwest Missouri State and East Region finalist St. Thomas Aquinas.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen is allowing 72.7 points per game this season, second-best among all ECC teams. They've held nine opponents to less than 70 points, posting an 8-1 record in those contests. Earlier in the season, the Wildcats held Salem and Roberts Wesleyan to less than 60 points, the first time they've done so in back-to-back games since late December of 2018. Daemen has four games this season with 10+ steals, including 11 vs. U. Sciences, and 10 vs. Salem - their first consecutive games with 10+ steals since a three-game string in January of 2014 (vs. Dominican, District of Columbia, Dowling). The Wildcats also rank fourth in blocks per game (3.5) and third in field goal percentage defense (.434) among ECC teams. Daemen is allowing just 61.7 points and 39.2% field-goal shooting over the last three games.

LET IT FLY
After making just five three-pointers in a 67-65 win over Mercyhurst, Daemen averaged 10.8 made threes in their next nine games from Nov. 16 to Dec. 19. The Wildcats hit 10+ threes in six of those games, including five in a row. 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 equaled their season-high with 14 three-pointers in a road win at Mercy on Dec. 13, and they lead the ECC in both three-pointers made per game (9.0) and three-point shooting percentage (.364).     

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 19 games this year, Sischo is averaging monster numbers (25.4 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 64.4% FG). He's posted 16 games of 20+ points, and has topped 30 points five times. He leads the country in double-doubles (14) and made field goals (188), and also ranks second in rebounding, sixth in scoring and 11th 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 five-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 14 of them through his first 19 games, a total that presently leads the country. He opened the season with seven consecutive double-doubles, and has four this season that include 30-point outputs. Sischo, who ranked sixth nationally with 17 double-doubles last season, has totaled 39 double-doubles in 77 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 77 career games, Sischo has totaled 1,530 points and 776 rebounds. He stands as one of only four players in program history with at least 1,500 points and 700 rebounds. He ranks sixth all-time in scoring, fifth in career rebounding sixth in made field goals (612), and 10th in blocked shots (76).

AMONG THE BEST
Andrew Sischo has been named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List by Small College Basketball, a national organization which highlights the accomplishments of non-NCAA Division I basketball teams and student-athletes. The Bevo Francis Award is named for the former basketball star at Rio Grande College who averaged 50.1 points per game during the 1952-53 season. It is awarded to the player who is deemed to have had the finest season within Small College Basketball, which consists of NCAA Divisions II and III as well as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).

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 108 games since the start of the 2016-17 season, making 105 starts and helping Daemen to an 80-28 record. He has totaled 1,253 points, 488 rebounds, 273 three-point field goals and 89 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 15 shy of Montanaro's program record (288). He also ranks 13th in points and sixth in blocks among Daemen's all-time leaders. Redband has made at least one three-pointer in 50 of the last 54 games, and has made five or more 17 times in his career. He leads the team and ECC with 57 three-pointers (ranks 24th nationally) this season, and is producing 12.0 points, 3.7 rebounds 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 topped 20 points three times this season, including Nov. 23 vs. Wilmington when he hit the go-ahead three-pointer with just over 30 seconds remaining. He's producing 12.8 points per game and leads the team in steals (32) this season. Harris, who recently became just the ninth player in team history to reach 150 career steals, has totaled 857 points, 302 rebounds, 197 assists and 158 steals in 86 career games played.  

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 100 of a possible 109 games (excluding a redshirt season in 2016-17), while making 94 starts. He's recorded at least one three-pointer in 82 games, totaling 170 triples in his career (7th 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. He has totaled 937 points and 298 assists in his career. He recently moved past Monty Montgomery for 10th place on Daemen's career assists list. Sarkis is seeing 32.4 minutes per game, and producing 7.2 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 15 games and producing 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. He has had eight games with 10+ points, including 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. Including his time at Southern Connecticut, Wallace has totaled 954 points, 542 rebounds and 330 assists in 93 career games played.

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
The Wildcats make the short trek east to Rochester where they'll face rival Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday, Feb. 1.