AMHERST, N.Y. - A gap of more than 300 days between games is slated to come to an end for the Daemen College men's basketball team next month as head coach Mike MacDonald unveiled an abbreviated 2020-21 schedule today. The men's and women's basketball teams will be Daemen's first to return to competition following the hiatus that's resulted from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wildcats are scheduled to participate in 13 regular season contests in all - 10 East Coast Conference games and three of the non-conference variety. The schedule includes six games at home, where the Wildcats have won 37 of their last 40, as well as seven road games.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

1. HEALTH & SAFETY: The schedule was developed with the health and safety of the team's tier one personnel in mind. The NCAA defines tier one personnel as all student-athletes, coaches, managers, athletic trainers and other support staff. All tier one personnel will undergo regular surveillance testing - up to three times per week - in accordance with NCAA guidelines.  
   
   In accordance with ECC and Daemen directives, opponents are somewhat limited. Within the seven-week schedule, the Wildcats will play two different opponents in a single week only once, thereby limiting the potential COVID exposure for all tier one personnel. Team travel is also restricted with just one overnight trip planned.
   

2. HOW TO WATCH: Although spectators will not be permitted to attend contests, it's anticipated that all games will be available on various live streaming platforms. All games, home and away, against East Coast Conference opponents will be broadcast on the ECC Network. More detailed information, including direct broadcast links, will be available in the coming weeks. 
   

3. POSTSEASON: The East Coast Conference Championship will be held March 3-7 with all games taking place at campus sites. With the possibility of postponements due to COVID-19 causing imbalanced schedules, the conference will use a weighted formula that takes into account winning percentage and total games played to determine seeding for the ECC Championship. The tournament winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament which has already been reduced from a 64-team field to 48 for 2021.

KEY DATES
JANUARY 16: The regular season gets underway when Daemen visits Mercyhurst, ending a span of 315 days between games for Daemen. It'll mark the eighth straight season that the Wildcats and Lakers have met. Five of the last seven meetings have been decided by six points or less, including Daemen's 67-65 win last season. 

JANUARY 22: The Wildcats' home opener comes as they welcome ECC newcomer D'Youville to Lumsden Gymnasium for a re-ignition of their crosstown rivalry. D'Youville is in the first of a three-year transition period from NCAA Division III. The Wildcats and Saints last met in 2004, and they'll get reacquainted quickly with three total meetings on the docket (also January 24 at D'Youville; February 10 at Daemen).

JANUARY 29: Daemen plays host to Gannon, a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference affiliate (like Mercyhurst) that is playing an independent schedule due to the cancellation of the PSAC schedule. It's the first in a weekend home-and-home as the Wildcats trek to Gannon's Hammermill Center on January 31. It'll mark the first meeting between Daemen and Gannon since 2012, and just the second time the teams have met twice in a single season (also 2005-06).

FEBRUARY 5: The first of three meetings between Thruway Rivals Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan happens at the latter's Voller Athletic Center in Rochester. The Wildcats head back later that same weekend (February 7) before hosting the Redhawks on February 17. Daemen has won 19 consecutive meetings in the series. 

FEBRUARY 20-21: The Wildcats close a four-game homestand with a pair of conference games against Mercy. Daemen is 15-0 all-time against the Mavericks. The team's annual Senior Day ceremony, which will likely need to be reimagined due to COVID, is tentatively scheduled for the home finale.

FEBRUARY 27-28: The regular season concludes as Daemen takes its lone overnight trip to face defending ECC champion St. Thomas Aquinas. The Wildcats and Spartans have accumulated more wins than any other Division II teams in New York State since 2015. The teams split their two regular season meetings in 2019-20 before the Spartans bounced Daemen in the ECC Championship semifinals.   

THE TEAM
The Wildcats will look vastly different once they take the court. Gone from last season's NCAA tournament team are four starters - Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.), Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) and Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) - who each scored more than 1,000 points in their respective careers. Redshirt senior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) does return and figures to be the focal points once again after earning All-American honors last season. 

A two-time ECC and East Region Player of the Year, Sischo led the country in total rebounds (362) and double-doubles (22) while averaging 24.9 points and 11.7 rebounds per outing last season. He also set Daemen and ECC single-season records for total points (773) and made field goals (298). Sischo enters the season just 142 points shy of Rob Robinson's program record for career scoring (1,962), a benchmark that's stood since 1992. 

Guards Sean Fasoyiro (Houston, Texas), Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) and Kyle Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) bring the most experience to Daemen's backcourt. Fasoyiro is a graduate transfer who appeared in 81 games over the past three seasons for the Franklin Pierce Ravens. His most productive season came last winter when he averaged 7.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Salzberg (55.6% FG, 50% 3PT) and Harris (4.4 ppg, 43% FG, 38% 3PT) were contributors for the Wildcats last season - their first with the program. Harris appeared in all 32 games and made nine starts after transferring from Erie Community College.

The roster also features a highly touted freshmen class that includes three All-Western New York and two All-Greater Rochester honorees. Guard Juston Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.) and forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) are the first First Team All-WNY selections to commit to Daemen since Mark Coppola in 2010. They're joined by fellow Western New Yorker Tyler Hind (Randolph, N.Y.) who earned Second Team All-WNY and New York State Class C Player of the Year honors last winter. Guards Tony Arnold (Rochester, N.Y.) and Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) both averaged more than 20 points per game as seniors en route to being named among Rochester's best players. Both Arnold and Mason also graduated as the all-time leading scorers at the respective schools. 

Several players, including Ryan Bradley (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), Tajmin Holt (Rochester, N.Y.) and Chris Luke (Cortland, N.Y.) who each played key roles off the bench last season, have exercised their right to opt out of the season due to COVID-19. The NCAA granted student-athletes this option without losing a year of athletic eligibility. Each student-athlete's decision has been fully supported by the Daemen coaching staff and Division of Athletics. 

Daemen is ranked third in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) Preseason East Region Media Poll, and is receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top-25 Poll. The Wildcats are coming off a 24-8 campaign and will be a seeking a third consecutive NCAA tournament berth. 

SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Daemen's game schedule is of course subject to change due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A positive result during surveillance testing for Daemen or an opponent is likely to result in game postponements and/or cancellations. Stay tuned to daemenwildcats.com for the most up to date information regarding the team's upcoming schedule.