AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College is the No. 8 team in the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings for men's basketball which were released this afternoon. It marks the second of three polls that will be released by the Regional Advisory Committee. The NCAA announces 10-team rankings for each of the eight regions across the country for three successive weeks leading up to the NCAA Championship selection announcement, which will be made this year on Sunday, March 6.
The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The eight-team NCAA Championships East Regional —one of eight regional tournaments that comprise the 64-team NCAA tournament—will consist of three automatic berths and five at-large selections, and it takes place March 12-15 at a site that is yet to be determined.
Under the guidance of eighth-year head coach Mike MacDonald, the Wildcats have posted an 18-7 overall record so far this season, as well as a 15-1 mark in ECC play. Daemen owns a 17-4 in-region record this season and a 2-2 mark against teams included in this week's regional rankings—having defeated No. 5 Pace University (83-72) and No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas College (73-61) and having lost to No. 2 Franklin Pierce University (83-80) and St. Thomas Aquinas (75-70 OT). The Wildcats were scheduled to play No. 1 Bentley University and No. 3 Saint Anselm College, but those games were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
Daemen saw its region-best 12-game winning streak snapped following a 75-70 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in overtime last Friday. The Wildcats rebounded with an 84-47 victory over Mercy College on Sunday. Daemen ranks third among ECC teams in scoring offense (70.8 ppg) and leads the league in scoring defense (66.7 papg).
Bentley (19-4) of the Northeast-10 sits atop the NCAA Regional poll for the second-straight week, while Franklin Pierce (15-9), St. Anselm (15-9), Dominican College (18-6) and Pace (18-8) round out the top five. The bottom five consists of the University of New Haven (17-7), St. Thomas Aquinas (22-4), Daemen (18-7), Southern New Hampshire University (13-10) and Adelphi University (17-9).
Daemen is tied atop the ECC standings with St. Thomas Aquinas with one week left in the regular season. The Wildcats return to action tomorrow night at Molloy College and close out the regular season Saturday at Queens College.
Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 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.
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