Game 22:Sunday, Feb. 4| at D'Youville Saints| Buffalo, N.Y.| Campus Center| 3p.m.
Live Video:ECCNetwork|Live Stats:Stats
Daemen Links:Roster|Schedule|Stats
D'Youville Links:Roster|Schedule|Stats
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JUMP BALL
Daementravels across town to take on D'Youville in anEast Coast Conference gameSunday (Feb. 4).
Ticketsfor all 2023-24Daemenhome games are on sale throughDaemen'sonline ticketing portal.Lock in your tickets before arriving at Lumsden Gym. Please note, all tickets must be purchased online. No cashsales will be available at Lumsden Gym.
POLL POSITION THE SEASON SO FAR
THE SEASON AHEAD
The Wildcats return several key players anda total of 14 players from their 2022-23 team whichwent 20-8 overall and 12-4 in the East Coast Conference. The Wildcats advanced to the ECC Tournament championship game, where they suffered a 72-66 loss to top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas College.Daemenwaspicked second in the ECC preseason coaches' polland was also receiving votes in the National Association ofBasketball Coaches (NABC) Division II preseason poll.
Daemenisranked sixth in theD2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Regionpollreleased Monday, Jan. 29.
Daemen(15-6, 5-3 ECC) has featured a balanced scoring attack and solid defense thus far. Sixplayers are averagingin double figures and the Wildcats lead the ECC in fewest points allowed per game (69.9). SeniorDylan Fasoyiro(Houston, Tex.) has scored over 20 points six times this season andis averaging 15.8 points with 28 three-pointers and 18 steals. Sophom*oreJustin Glover(Buffalo, N.Y.) is averaging 12.5 points and 3.5assists. Graduate studentJoey Atkins(Watervliet, N.Y.), the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, is averaging 11.9 points and 7.6rebounds. A five-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection, he ranks second among the ECC leaders in blocks (36) and third in steals (35).Fifth-year seniorNick MacDonald(Amherst, N.Y.) is averaging 11.5points, while seniorAndrew Mason(Webster, N.Y.) is contributing11.6points with a team-high 57three-pointers. SeniorJustin Hemphill(Buffalo, N.Y.) is producing 10.8points and a team-high 7.7rebounds per contest.
WILDCATS COMING OFF SWEEP OF MOLLOY AND QUEENS
The Wildcats posted league wins over Molloy (84-58) and Queens (78-56) last weekend at Lumsden Gymnasium. SeniorJustin Hemphill(Buffalo, N.Y.) scored 20 points and sophom*oreJustin Glover(Buffalo, N.Y.) added 19 to lead Daemen to thevictory over Molloy.It marked the 450thcareer win for Daemen head coachMike MacDonald, who has now amassed a 450-306 record over his 27 year career.Graduate studentJoey Atkins(Watervliet, N.Y.) totaled 16points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead the Wildcats pastQueens.
THERE'S NO I IN TEAM SHARP SHOOTERS GETTING DEFENSIVE HOME SWEET HOME
ATKINSTABBED ECC CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYEROF THE WEEK
Graduate studentJoey Atkins(Watervliet, N.Y.) washonored by the ECCfor his play last weekend. Atkins was selected as the ECC Men's Basketball Co-DefensivePlayerof the Week,marking the fifthtime this season thatAtkins has collected the award.Atkins headed up a defense that limited its two opponents to just 114 points (57 points per game) during a 2-0 week. Heaveraged 12.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 2.0 steals and led the Wildcats to a big 78-56 win over Queens with 20 points, 10 rebounds (seven defensive) and four steals. Atkins added eight points, five defensive rebounds and three blocks in the 84-58 win over Molloy. Atkins has been a big part of aDaemendefense thathas limited 12 of its 21opponents to less than 70 points andleads the ECC in team defense, allowing just 69.9 points per game.
Daemenfeatures a balanced attack with six players averaging between 10.8 and 15.8 points per game. The Wildcats have had 14 games where four players have scored in double figures and five players have reached double digits in points seven times. A season-high six players scored in double figures during their win at Clarion on Nov. 26 and their double OT win at Saint Anselm on Dec. 31.
Daemenranks first among ECC teams infield goal percentage (.473) andhas shot over 45-percent from the field in 13 of its 21 games. The Wildcats are 8-0 this year when they shoot 50-percent or better from the field.
Daemenhas limited 12 of its 21 opponents to less than 70 points andleads the ECC in team defense, allowing just 69.9 points per game. The Wildcats also rank first in the ECC in field goal percentage defense,holding opponents to just 41-percent from the field.Daemenhas produced the ECC Defensive Player of the Week seven times this season.Joey Atkins has earned the honor fivetimes, while Justin Hemphill is a two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection.
The Wildcats are 9-1at home this season andhave won 18of their last 19home games dating back to last season. They are 101-19(.842) at home duringDaemen'sNCAA Division II era (2015-present).
NOTABLE
Joey Atkinsrecorded his 100th career block during a loss to Dominican on Nov. 18. He has totaled 127 career blocks and has moved into the top five in career blocks among Daemen's all-time leaders.Dylan Fasoyiroscored his600th career pointduring a loss at Queens. After scoring just 23 points during his two seasons at Ashland, he has racked up 611 points in 43 games (14.2 ppg) at Daemen.Andrew Masonhasbecome the seventh player in program historyto reach 200 career three-pointers. He recorded his 200th during the win over Molloy on Dec. 8 and ranks fifth in career three-pointers at Daemen with 233. Mason stands 23 points shy of 1,000 for his career.Nick MacDonaldrecorded his 150th career three-pointer during a win over Saint Anselm. MacDonald leads the ECC and ranks 14th nationally in free throw percentage (61-66/.924). He scored his 1,000thcareer during the win over Queens this past weekend.
FAMILIAR FACES NEWCOMERS BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
MACDONALD NOTCHES WIN NO. 450
Head coachMike MacDonaldregistered the 450th win of his career folllwing the victory over Molloy on Jan. 26. Among active NCAA Division II coaches, he ranks first in the ECC, fifth in theEast Region and 26th nationally in career wins with 451. MacDonaldis inhis 10th season on theDaemenbench and his 27thoverall as a collegiate head coach.Daemenhas posted at least 20 wins in five of the last six seasons (Daemenonly played 16 games during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season) and MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a record of 194-80, three NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and the 2021 NCAA Division II East Region title.He has won more games atDaementhan during previous stints as the head coach atCanisius(108 wins in nine seasons) andMedaille(149 wins in eight seasons). MacDonald is among an elite fraternity of coaches to have achieved 100 victories across all three NCAA divisions. His overall career record stands at 451-306andDaemen's81-72 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 8, 2021 was the 400th of his career.
All-ECC selectionsJoey Atkins(Watervliet, N.Y.),DylanFasoyiro(Houston, Tex.),Nick MacDonald(Amherst, N.Y.) andAndrew Mason(Webster, N.Y.) all return in 2023-24. Atkins earned first-team All-ECC honors in his first season as a starter last year after averaging 11.9 points and 6.2 rebounds. He also ranked eighth among all Division II players in blocks (65).Fasoyiroaveraged a team-high 13.4 points in his first season with the team, while MacDonald contributed 12.4 points. Mason averaged 10.9 points and led all three NCAA divisions in three-point field goal percentage (.516) last year.Veteran point guardRyan Salzberg(Manlius, N.Y.), whostarted all 28 games last year and averaged 32 minutes agame,was set to returnbut suffered a preseason injury. SeniorJustin Hemphill(Buffalo, N.Y.), a 6-foot-6 forward, is coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 9.0 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds off the bench. Sophom*ore guardJustin Glover(Buffalo, N.Y.) is set to step into the starting lineup following the loss of Salzberg. Glover played in 23 games (seven starts) as a freshman and averaged 4.9 points and 1.8 assists.AydenHarrison(Clifton Park, N.Y.),PhilNwugwo(Rochester, N.Y.) andJackson Kulik(Webster, N.Y.) also join the mix after redshirting their freshman season last year.
Three newcomers join the fold in 2023-24.Redshirtsophom*ore guardJarius Jones(Gahanna, Ohio) spent the past two years at Ohio Dominican University. FreshmenZach Philipkoski(New Hartford, N.Y.) andRyan Heath(Rochester, N.Y.) both earned New York State Class A all-state honors last winter and Philipkoski was also honored as the New York State Class A Player of the Year.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS
TheDaemenprogram has been built on sustained success, winning at least 19 games in 11 of the last 12seasons. That span encompasses the end ofDaemen'sNAIAEra, its NCAA transition period and the first eight seasons of full NCAA Division II membership. The Wildcats have won 72% of their contests, going 247-98 in that span. Looking more recently,Daemenis 120-45 since the start of the 2017-18 season (.730 winning percentage).
Daemenearned three consecutive NCAA DivisionII Tournament berths from 2019 to 2021. The Wildcats won 24 games (NCAA era program record) and earned at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in 2019 and 2020. The Wildcats entered the 2021 tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region and picked up their first-ever NCAA tourney win with an 81-69 defeat of third-seeded Bloomfield in the opening round. The Wildcats then upset top-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas in the regional championship gameen route to the program's first regional championship and Elite Eight appearance.Daemenhas posted 20 wins this last two seasons, but was denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament each year.
SERIES HISTORY
SCOUTING THE SAINTS
D'Youville (6-13, 3-5ECC) hosts Staten Island tonight(Feb. 2) before taking on the Wildcats Sunday. The Sainthave lost six of theirlast seven games and fell to Queens (80-72) and Molloy (95-80) at home last weekend. D'Youvillewent 4-21 overall and 3-13in ECC play last year. Andy Stark is inhis second season as head coach. D'Youville returns seven players from last season and welcomes three freshmen and four transfers. Sophom*oreguard Chase Jenkinshas scored in double figures 15 times this season and is averaging a team-high 14.2 points with a team-high 38 three-pointers. Junior college transfer Trayton Trice scored 21 points in a recent win over Mercy and is averaging 13.9 points and a tea-high 5.9 rebounds. JuniorNoah Hutchins, a transfer from Division I Rice, is contributing 9.2 points and 4.1 assists per game. Sophom*ore guard Renard Fontes-Jules is averaging 6.6 points and 3.3 assists with a team-high 36 steals. D'Youvillewaspicked eighth in the ECCpreseason coaches' poll.
Sunday's gamewill mark the 12thall-timemeeting between Daemen and D'Youville. Daemen has prevailed in each of the previous 11 meetings. The Wildcats swept the season series last year, posting a 56-53 win at D'Youville and an 83-74 win at Lumsden Gymnasium.
ON THE HORIZON
Daementravels to Staten Island (Feb. 9) and District iof Columbia (Feb. 11) for ECC games next weekend.
Follow the Daemenmen's basketballprogram on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagararegion, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on DaemenAthletics, follow the Wildcatsvia social media onTwitter,Facebook,YouTubeandInstagram, or sign up to receivecustomizable news alerts,e-mail newslettersandweekly schedule alerts.
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