Skip To Main Content

Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
wallace mbb vs roberts

Men's Basketball Remains In Top 5 Of D2SIDA Regional Poll

Wildcats Tied For Fourth This Week

1/27/2020 2:34:00 PM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications
AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's basketball is tied at No. 4 in the latest NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll which was released today. Daemen has been ranked in 28 successive D2SIDA regional polls dating back to January of 2018, and have spent nine weeks ranked among the region's top five teams this season. The D2SIDA East Region media poll is voted on by sports information professionals representing the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference

Daemen has won three-straight games, improving their overall record to 17-5 this season. They are tied with Jefferson University (17-2) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (17-3) for the most wins among East Region teams. Jefferson and STAC occupy the No. 2 and 3 positions in the poll this week with the University of Bridgeport (16-2) topping it for the first time this season. Daemen is tied at No. 4 with Le Moyne College (14-5), a team that Daemen defeated 89-79 at Lumsden Gymnasium on November 19. The Dolphins have gone 13-2 since that defeat. 

After averaging just 66.8 points while going 3-3 through their first six January games, Daemen scored 90+ points in wins this past weekend over Molloy College (91-83) and New York Tech (92-57). The wins moved Daemen to 6-2 in East Coast Conference play, maintaining a firm grip on third place in the league standings behind Bridgeport (8-0) and STAC (7-1).

The Wildcats have been led this season by redshirt junior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) who is averaging an East Region-best 25.0 points as well as 11.9 rebounds per game. He leads all of Division II with 15 double-doubles this season, and is also among the national leaders in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage. 

Additional production is coming from veteran players Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.), Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) and Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.). Redband (12.9 ppg) went for a career-high 26 points in Friday's win over Molloy, and leads the ECC with 67 three-point field goals. Harris (12.4 ppg) and Wallace (11.0 ppg) are also scoring in double figures, and Sarkis (8.2 ppg) recently became just the eighth player in program history to reach 300 career assists. 

Daemen returns to action this Saturday, February 1 when they visit rival Roberts Wesleyan College at the Voller Athletic Center in Rochester.
D2SIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION MEDIA POLL - WEEK #9
W-L PTS. LAST WEEK
1. Bridgeport (4) 16-2 58 3
2. Jefferson (2) 17-2 56 2
3. St. Thomas Aquinas 17-3 48 1
T4. DAEMEN 17-5 39 4
T4. Le Moyne 14-5 39 5
6. Bentley 16-4 30 6
7. Dominican 14-5 24 7
8. Franklin Pierce 12-6 13 RV
9. Adelphi 14-6 12 8
10. Stonehill 11-8 8 10

( ) denotes first-place votes

Dropped out: St. Anselm (No. 9)
Others receiving votes: New Haven (1), Post (1), St. Anselm (1)

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.


 
Print Friendly Version