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Tyler Arbuckle

PREVIEW: Men's basketball kicks off 2022-23 campaign in western New York

11/9/2022 8:30:00 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team opens its 2022-23 season on Friday, Nov. 11 in western New York.

SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (17-11, 11-8 NE10 in 2021-22)
Roster | Schedule and Results | 2021-22 Statistics | News

ROBERTS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY REDHAWKS (12-13, 9-9 ECC in 2021-22)
Roster | Schedule and Results | 2021-22 Statistics | News

RV DAEMEN UNIVERSITY WILDCATS (20-9, 16-2 ECC in 2021-22)
Roster | Schedule and Results | 2021-22 Statistics | News

Saint Anselm (17-11, 11-8 NE10 in 2021-22) will take on Roberts Wesleyan on Friday at 11 a.m. before battling Daemen on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Amherst, N.Y. In total, five of the first seven contests for the Hawks will be played on the road to begin the season.

Daemen is the host institution for the East Region Challenge. The two-day event features competing teams from the three leagues that comprise the East Region. The event meets the NCAA Division II requirements for an exempted conference/regional challenge event.

Roberts Wesleyan is coming off a 12-13 overall record last season that includes a 9-9 mark in East Coast Conference play. Daemen racked up a 20-9 record and a dominant 16-2 mark in the ECC, falling to Saint Thomas Aquinas by 11 points in the league's title game.

Daemen is receiving a single vote in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' national poll.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

  • Saint Anselm is projected to finish fourth out of 13 teams in the Northeast-10 Conference during the 2022-23 season, according to the league's annual Preseason Coaches' Poll released in mid-October.
  • Last season, Saint Anselm compiled a 17-11 overall record and qualified for NCAA Division II postseason once again, entering the 2021-22 East Region Championship as the No. 3 seed. After posting back-to-back wins to open the NE10 postseason, the Hawks fell in the NE10 Semifinals before falling in the Quarterfinals round of the NCAA Division II East Region Championship.
  • Returning for Saint Anselm in 2022-23 is Miles Tention (Palo Alto, Calif.), a Second Team All-Conference performer, who played over 37.3 minutes per game for the Hawks to rank ninth in NCAA Division II. Averaging a career-high 14.1 points per game, Tention was a key cog in the Hawks offense and ranked second in the league in three-pointers made (78) and three-point field goal percentage (.415).
  • Tyler Arbuckle (Bristol, Conn.) is also back for the Hawks as well after producing 12.8 points per game in just 21 appearances a season ago. Averaging 3.5 assists per tilt, Arbuckle is eighth all-time with 33.1 minutes played per game and began his career as a four-time NE10 Rookie of the Week en route to an All-Rookie Team selection in 2019-20.
  • The Hawks have made nine of the last 10 NCAA postseasons (Saint Anselm did not compete during the 2020-21 campaign), leading all East Region programs. Under Head Coach Keith Dickson, the Hawks have made 21 NCAA tournament appearances since the 1986-87 season and the long-time bench boss concluded his 36th year at Saint Anselm with a 681-353 (.659) overall record in 2021-22.
  • With nine NE10 titles since the conference's inception in 1980-81, the Hawks have claimed more than double the amount of postseason championships than the second place institutions (4 – American Int'l, Assumption, Bentley, Stonehill).

SCOUTING ROBERTS WESLEYAN

  • Roberts Wesleyan placed fifth out of nine teams in the ECC preseason poll released in late October. To begin the month of November, the Redhawks posted a 72-63 loss against NCAA Division II Niagara in exhibition play.
  • The Redhawks return three double-digit point scorers, including Ja'Kair Sanchez, Rian Carter and Abou Gbane. Sanchez averaged 15.3 points and 5.7 rebounds while Carter was not far behind, averaging 13.4 points per contest.
  • In 2021-22, Roberts Wesleyan ranked seventh in NCAA Division II in turnovers forced (17.64) and was 14th in steals per game (9.1). The Redhawks averaged 84.9 points per game, leading the ECC on the season.
  • Mark Saladzius, a 2009 graduate of Roberts Wesleyan, is entering his fifth season leading the men's basketball program. He has posted 43 wins, including a 16-14 overall record in 2018-19 in his debut campaign.

SCOUTING DAEMEN

  • Daemen is projected to finish first in the ECC, according to the league's preseason poll. Since joining the ECC, the Wildcats (20-9, 16-2 ECC in 2021-22) have compiled a 106-35 (.752) record in conference play and the program returns 10 student-athletes from the 2021-22 campaign.
  • The Wildcats graduated Andrew Sischo, the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in ECC history and a three-time All-America selection. Daemen will look toward senior Ryan Salzburg and his 7.3 points per game to fill the scoring void – he also handed out 91 assists, leading the Wildcats.
  • Daemen played NCAA Division I Buffalo in an exhibition contest on Oct. 30, falling by a 95-66 score. Curtis Jones led the way with 16 points and Yazid Powell posted 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in defeat.
  • Head Coach Mike MacDonald enters his ninth season with Daemen, compiling a 159-66 (.707) overall record with the Wildcats. In his career, including stops at NCAA Division I Canisius and Division III Medaille, he owns a 416-292 (.588) record in 25 seasons.

ALL-TIME vs. ROBERTS WESLEYAN, DAEMEN

  • Saint Anselm has never faced Roberts Wesleyan in program history.
  • The Hawks are 1-1 against Daemen since the first meeting on Jan. 2, 2019.
  • Last time out, Daemen (ranked No. 16 in NCAA Division II) was saddled with an 87-59 loss at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
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