GAME #1
RV/#25 DAEMEN WILDCATS (0-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (2-0, 0-0 PSAC)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29
LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.) - 6:00 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19

GAME #2
RV/#25 DAEMEN WILDCATS vs. GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31
HAMMERMILL CENTER (ERIE, PA.) - 2:00 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19


FASTBREAK POINTS
1. A span of 328 days between games will come to an end as Daemen opens the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season with a home-and-home series against Gannon this weekend. Daemen has not played since suffering a 91-78 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the semifinal round of the ECC Championships on March 7, 2020.

2. Gannon opened their season with a two-game sweep of Kentucky State earlier this month. The Golden Knights are playing an independent schedule following the cancelation of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference games for this season.

3. The Wildcats were hit hard by graduation, losing four of their five starters, all of whom were 1,000-point scorers. Three of those players – Breon Harris, Jay Sarkis and Jeff Redband – played vital roles in helping Daemen win 89 games over the course of their respective careers. 

4. All eyes will be on redshirt senior center Andrew Sischo, a consensus All-American, who returns after averaging 24.9 points and 11.7 rebounds per game last season. Sischo will be looking to pick up where he left off after setting Daemen and East Coast Conference records for total points (773) and field goals (298), and also leading the country in total rebounds (362) and double-doubles (22).   

5. This weekend's games are the first of 12 on the schedule for Daemen during this unprecedented season,. All games are subject to change based upon COVID-19 testing results among Daemen's Tier 1 personnel, as well as that of their opponents. Daemen has already had three games postponed, two of which have been rescheduled for next month. The Wildcats went into a COVID-related pause in team activities from Jan. 15-24.

GANNON SCOUTING REPORT

• Gannon is led by head coach Kelvin Jefferson who led the Golden Knights to a 14-13 overall record, including a 13-9 mark in PSAC play, last season – his first with the program.
• The Golden Knights are playing an independent schedule this season following the cancelation of PSAC games due to COVID-19.
• Gannon opened their season with a pair of home wins over Kentucky State earlier this month.
• The Golden Knights return seven players to the roster, including three – sophomore guard Chris Clancy, junior forward Kevin Dodds and senior center Michael Tertsea - who were part of their regular rotation a season ago.
• Clancy, the leading scorer among the team's returners, has led the way offensively thus far, averaging 15.0 points per game, while Dodds is getting 9.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
• Newcomers Ike Herster (10.5 ppg), Braden Olsen (8.5 ppg, 8.0 apg) and Emanuel Henriques (8.5 ppg) have also produced.
• Gannon forced Kentucky State into 39 turnovers in their two games, turning those into 47 points. The teams both shot 44% but Gannon had 32 more field goal attempts.

SERIES HISTORY VS. GANNON
All-Time Series: Gannon 9-1
At Daemen: 0-0
At Gannon: Gannon 9-1
Current Streak: Gannon won 1
Last Meeting: Gannon 65, Daemen 46 | Nov. 24, 2012 | Erie, Pa.

UNPRECEDENTED SEASON
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc upon collegiate sports with postponements, pauses and cancelations. Daemen, which experienced its own 10-day pause in team activities due to a positive COVID-19 test result, has been out of action for more than 300 days. The Wildcats will return to competition beginning January 29 and running through late February, preceding the East Coast Conference Championship which is slated for March 3-7. The schedule includes 10 conference contests, six total home games. The limited schedule was comprised with the health and safety of all players, coaches and other Tier 1 personnel in mind, and in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines established by the NCAA. 

RETURN OF THE MAC
Mike MacDonald returns to the bench for his seventh season as Daemen's head coach, and his 24th overall as a collegiate head coach. Since beginning to roam the Daemen sidelines, MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a 129-51 overall record. The Wildcats have won at least 19 games in each of MacDonald's first six seasons, and the team's 129 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 Feb. 10, 2019 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 386-277.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
The Daemen program has been built on sustained success, winning at least 19 games in each of the last nine seasons. In that span (2011-20), which encompasses the end of Daemen's NAIA Era, its' NCAA transition period and the first five seasons of full NCAA Division II membership, the Wildcats have won 70% of their contests, going 176-75. Looking more recently, Daemen is 70-22 in the last three seasons (.761 winning percentage), and their 89 wins in the last four seasons is the most successful four-year span in program history. 

BACK-TO-BACK
Daemen has won 24 games (NCAA Era program record) and earned at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons. The team's 2019 bid was the first in program history, and the Wildcats made their NCAA tournament debut as the No. 5 seed in the East Region, falling in the opening round to fourth-seeded New Haven, 72-67. Daemen was awarded the No. 8 seed in the East Region, however the tournament was canceled before it even began due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

GOING STREAKING
Daemen has embarked on four winning streaks of at least nine games since the start of the 2018-19 season. Last season, the Wildcats put together an 11-game winning streak, covering games played Nov. 2 through Dec. 13 - the longest of Daemen's NCAA Era. 

DEFENDING THE DEN
Success on their home floor has been a staple of Daemen's rise within the NCAA Division II ranks. The Wildcats have won 10+ home games in eight of the last nine seasons, including identical 15-1 home records in the last two seasons which established a new program record for homecourt victories. Dating back to the 2017-18 season, Daemen has won 37 of their last 40 home games. The Wildcats are also unbeaten in 16 straight non-conference home games. Since joining the ECC (2013-14 season), Daemen is 55-10 in home conference games (.846 winning percentage). Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Daemen is 112-15 at home (.882 winning percentage). Of those 15 losses, seven have been decided by three points or fewer, including three by just a single point.

POLL POSITION
Despite not yet playing a game this season, Daemen is nationally ranked for the third straight week, coming in at No. 25 in the latest NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) national media poll. The Wildcats have been ranked 18 times in the D2SIDA poll dating back to the 2018-19 season, rising as high as No. 8, a position they held for three successive weeks early last season. In addition, Daemen is also ranked second in the D2SDA East Region media poll and is receiving votes in the NABC national poll.

FIRST THINGS FIRST
Daemen has won 17 of their last 18 season openers. The Wildcats fell 85-65 to No.1 Northwest Missouri State to open the 2019-20 campaign, snapping Daemen's 17-game winning streak in season openers. The Wildcats scored wins in that over 14 different opponents in that span. Fisher (Mass.), Wilfrid Laurier (Ont.) and Caldwell are the only opponents Daemen defeated twice during the streak. The Wildcats' average margin of victory during the streak was an astonishing 23.8 points per game.

WALKING THE STAGE
Daemen has been hit hard by graduation, losing four starters - Breon Harris, Jay Sarkis, Jeff Redband and Joey Wallace - who were each 1,000-point scorers as well as All-ECC honorees at one point or another. Harris, Sarkis and Redband were well entrenched in the Wildcats' lineup, combining for 330 games and 297 starts in their respective careers, and played key roles in leading Daemen to 89 wins. 

BIG MAN ON CAMPUS
Redshirt senior center Andrew Sischo, the two-time East Coast Conference and East Region Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, headlines Daemen's returning players. Sischo has already cemented his place among Daemen's all-time great players by racking up 1,820 points, 906 rebounds and a program-record 722 field goals in his first three collegiate seasons. Sischo's 2019-20 season was one for the record books as well. He set Daemen and ECC records for points (773) and field goals (298) in a season, led the country in total rebounds (362) and double-doubles (22) and became the first Division II player since the 2010-11 season to average at least 24 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting at least 64% from the field. He enters the season having scored 20+ points 45 times in his career, including a record 47-point outburst in the opening round of the ECC Championship tournament last March. Already this season, he's been named a Preseason All-American by Basketball Times, as well as the ECC Preseason Player of the Year - an honor he's now earned in three straight seasons. 

DOUBLE-DOUBLE YOUR DELIGHTMENT
Andrew Sischo has been a double-double machine throughout his career, racking up 47 of them in 89 games - the most for a Daemen player since Gerald Beverly totaled 46 double-doubles in his career spanning 2011-15. In the last two seasons alone, Sischo has recorded a double-double in more two-thirds of the games he's appeared in (39 double-doubles in 58 games). Sischo's 22 double-doubles in 2019-20 led all Division II players.  

CLIMBING THE LADDER
With each passing game, Andrew Sischo continues to climb among Daemen's all-time statistical leaders. In 89 career games, Sischo has totaled 1,820 points and 906 rebounds. He stands as the only player in program history with at least 1,800 points and 900 rebounds. Already the program's all-time leader in field goals (722), he ranks fourth in both scoring and rebounding. In addition, Sischo has placed himself among impressive company within ECC history, ranking fourth in field goals and ninth in rebounding. He is also just 33 points shy of moving into the conference' top 10 all-time scorers. 

VETERAN PRESENCE
Daemen will turn to graduate transfer Sean Fasoyiro and senior guard Kyle Harris to provide a veteran presence on a relatively young roster. A 6-foot-3 guard, Fasoyiro appeared in 81 games over the last three seasons for Franklin Pierce, helping them to a 45-38 record. In 28 games last season, including eight starts, Fasoyiro produced career-highs in scoring (7.8 ppg), minutes (21.8 mpg), field goal percentage (45.7), three-point percentage (37.5), rebounding (5.0 rpg) and assists (1.3). The Wildcats have had success in recent years on the transfer market, getting successful one-year contributors such as Joey Wallace and Quinn Lee Yaw. Now in his second season with the program, Harris is Daemen's most experienced returning player after center Andrew Sischo. Harris appeared in all 32 games and made nine starts last season when he shot 38% from three-point range and averaged 4.4 points per game. 

ALL-WNY PEDIGREE
Mike MacDonald and his staff made a sizable dent in the available WNY talent pool by inking 6-foot guard Juston Johnson, 6-foot-6 forward Justin Hemphill and 5-foot-11 guard Tyler Hind in the program's 2020 recruiting class. Johnson and Hemphill represent the first All-WNY first team selections to commit to Daemen out of high school since Mark Coppola in 2010. Hind, a second team All-WNY brings a stellar resume of his own, including 2,244 points which ranks eighth all-time among WNY players. He also set a new WNY record with 400 three-pointers in his career and was named the New York State Class C Player of the Year as a senior.

585 ----> 716
Daemen has had great success recruiting out of the Rochester area through the years. In fact, of the 11 Daemen players that have earned All-ECC honors since the 2013-14 season, eight of them have been products of Section V high schools. The Wildcats are hoping for continued production from the Rochester pipeline as freshmen guards Andrew Mason and Tony Arnold join the list of Section V standouts to choose Daemen. Both were All-Greater Rochester selections who graduated as the all-time leading scorers at their respective high schools. Arnold led the Eastridge, the same school that produced former Daemen guard Supreme Hannah, to their first sectional title in some 56 years last winter. Daemen has signed 11 All-Greater Rochester players since 2010. 

OPTING OUT
Daemen has had eight players exercise their right to opt out of the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19. These players include guard Tajmin Holt, forward Ryan Bradley and center Chris Luke who all saw regular minutes last season. Each player's decision has been fully supported by the Daemen coaching staff and athletics administration.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen opens conference play on Saturday, Feb. 6 at long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan, the first of two straight meetings between the Wildcats and Redhawks (also Monday, Feb. 8).