GAME #6
DAEMEN WILDCATS (2-3, 2-1 ECC) vs. D'YOUVILLE SAINTS (1-5, 0-3 ECC)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15
COLLEGE CENTER GYMNASIUM (BUFFALO, N.Y.) - 6:00 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19


FASTBREAK POINTS
1. After not facing one another for 17 seasons, the Daemen Wildcats and D'Youville Saints meet for the second time in as many weeks. The teams will meet three times this season in total. Daemen used a strong second half to run away with a 102-77 victory in the first meeting last week.

2. Daemen is coming off an 80-75 setback to Roberts Wesleyan this past Thursday – their first loss to the Redhawks since 2011. A tight contest throughout, the game featured 17 lead changes, 12 ties and no more than five points of separation the entire second half.

3. D'Youville has dropped five straight games since opening the season with a 94-80 win over USCAA member Villa Maria. The Saints are in their first year transitioning from NCAA Division III to Division II, and their first season as members of the East Coast Conference.

4. Redshirt senior center Andrew Sischo became Daemen's all-time leading scorer in Thursday's loss to Roberts Wesleyan. His basket at the 12:03 mark of the second half pushed him past Robert Robinson who totaled 1,962 points during his Daemen career from 1988-92. Sischo, who also ranks sixth on the East Coast Conference's all-time scoring list, has totaled 1,969 points in 94 career games.

5. Sischo entered the weekend as the leading scorer and rebounder among all Division II players, averaging 29.8 points and 14.4 rebounds per game. The Albany-area native has recorded nine straight doubles (52 in his career), 11 straight 20-point games (50 in his career) and 56 straight 10-point games (88 in his career). He stands just 22 rebounds shy of becoming the third player in program history with 1,000 in a career.

D'YOUVILLE SCOUTING REPORT

• D'Youville is in its first season as a member of the East Coast Conference. The Saints are transitioning from the NCAA Division III ranks to that of Division II, a process that is expected to take three full years.
• The Saints are led by head coach Earl Schunk. A long-time fixture in the Western New York basketball community, Schunk is in his 10th season at the helm of D'Youville's program. His best season came in 2018-19 when D'Youville finished 11-15 overall.
• D'Youville returns just five players and two starters from their 2019-20 team that finished 5-20. Redshirt senior forward Grant Beyer headlines the returners after averaging 12.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18 games last season.
• After opening the season with a 94-80 win over USCAA member Villa Maria, D'Youville has found tough sledding in their first five games against Division II opponents. The Saints are coming off back-to-back non-conference losses to nationally ranked Mercyhurst, and have allowed at least 90 points in four straight games.
• Beyer scored a season-high 21 points in their earlier meeting with Daemen. He leads the Saints in scoring (13.5 ppg), overall (.415) and three-point (.432) shooting percentages and three-point field goals (16). 
• The Saints are getting additional scoring punch from junior forward Garrian Wade (10.4 ppg) and freshman guard Trent Scott (10.0 ppg). Wade scored a season-high 18 points Friday vs. Mercyhurst. Scott has missed the last two games.
• Additional production is coming from freshman guard Mason Putnam (8.8 ppg, team-high 3.3 apg), sophomore forward Noah Denz (8.3 ppg, team-high 6.7 rpg) and redshirt junior forward Jaeger Martino (6.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg). Martino brings previous NCAA Division II experience after appearing in eight games last season for Glenville State.

SERIES HISTORY VS. D'YOUVILLE
All-Time Series: Daemen 7-0
At D'Youville: Daemen 2-0
Current Streak: Daemen Won 7
Last Meeting: Daemen 102, D'Youville 77 | Feb. 10, 2021 | Amherst, N.Y.

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, was out of action for 328 days before making their long-awaited season debut on Jan. 29 vs. Gannon. A schedule that includes 12 games overall and 10 ECC contests precedes the ECC Championship which is slated for March 3-7. 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 131-54 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 388-280.

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 records in the last two seasons which established a new program benchmark for homecourt victories. Dating back to the 2017-18 season, Daemen has won 38 of their last 42 home games. Since joining the ECC (2013-14 season), Daemen is 56-10 in home conference games (.848 win %). The Wildcats are also 66-13 at home during the program's NCAA era (.835 win %). In the 20 seasons from 2000-01 through 2019-20, the Wildcats won 83% of all home games, going 220-45. 

POLL POSITION
Daemen has been among the nationally ranked teams for the third straight season. The Wildcats have been ranked as high as No. 21 in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) national media poll and have also received votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) top-25 poll this season. 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 receiving votes in the D2SDA East Region media poll. The Wildcats have been ranked in 34 of the last 35 regional polls.

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. 

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
Daemen had won 17 consecutive season openers spanning 2002-18. That streak was snapped last season with their loss to No. 1 Northwest Missouri State. This season, back-to-back losses to Gannon put Daemen at 0-2 for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

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 51 of them in 93 games - the most for a Daemen player since Gerald Beverly totaled 46 double-doubles in his career spanning 2011-15. In his sophomore and junior seasons alone, Sischo recorded a double-double in more two-thirds of the games he appeared in (39 double-doubles in 58 games). Sischo's 22 double-doubles in 2019-20 led all Division II players.  

BEST OF THE BEST
During Daemen's game vs. Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 11, 2021, Andrew Sischo became the program's all-time leading scorer, surpassing the 29-year old benchmark of 1,962 points set by Robert Robinson. In 94 career games, Sischo has totaled 1,969 points and 978 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 (782), he also ranks fourth in rebounding. In addition, Sischo has placed himself among impressive company within ECC history, ranking second in field goals, sixth in scoring and seventh in rebounding.

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. 

HEY ROOKIE
Freshman guard Andrew Mason earned ECC Rookie of the Week honors after averaging 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in season-opening games vs. Gannon on Jan. 29 and 31. Mason is the sixth Daemen player to be named ECC Rookie of the Week since the Wildcats joined the conference in 2013.

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.

STREAK SNAPPED
Daemen's 80-75 loss to Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 11 snapped a series winning streak that had reached 20 games over a span of 10 years. It was the Redhawks' first win over Daemen since Feb. 15, 2011, and also their first home win in the series since Feb. 21, 2007. Daemen, which has won 27 of the last 29 meetings, had also entered the game with a 14-game road winning streak in the series.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen welcomes rival Roberts Wesleyan to Lumsden Gymnasium later this week (Wednesday, Feb. 17) as they look to avenge last Thursday's loss to the Redhawks.