Hamilton Named ECC Rookie of the Week For Second Time

Daemen Now With League-Best Six Rookie of the Week Selections This Season

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College men's basketball player Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) has been named the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Week for games played February 15-21. The official announcement came via the league's weekly men's basketball report released late yesterday from conference heaquarters in Central Islip, N.Y. It's the second such selection for Hamilton, and Daemen's league-best sixth this season.

Hamilton, a 6-foot-4 redshirt-freshman guard/forward, helped Daemen (17-8, 12-5 ECC) to a 2-1 record in three home ECC games last week. Daemen defeated Roberts Wesleyan College (96-88) last Wednesday, fell to Long Island University Post (88-76) last Friday, and closed the week with a victory over N.Y. Institute of Technology (93-68) on Sunday. For the week, Hamilton averaged 18.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 58-percent from the field (21-for-36) and 42-percent from three-point range (5-for-12).

In the win over Roberts Wesleyan, Hamilton erupted for a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while adding four boards, three assists and a career-best four steals. The victory clinched an ECC Tournament berth for Daemen in the program's first season of eligibility for NCAA Division II postseason play.

Hamilton hit 5-of-10 shots and totaled 13 points while snaring five rebounds in Friday's loss to LIU Post.

He closed the week with a 17-point outing off the bench in Sunday's win over NYIT. Hamilton hit 7-of-12 field goal attempts and added four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. It was his first game as a reserve since early January, making way for Ryan Grandits (Kenmore, N.Y./Medaille College) to make the start in his final collegiate home game on Senior Day.

Hamilton's emergence has helped Daemen to 12 wins in its last 14 games, dating back to his first career start, a 94-81 home victory over Mercy College on January 9. Since then, Hamilton has averaged 11.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and all eight of his double-figure scoring games this season have come in that stretch. Looking even more recently, Hamilton has scored in double figures in four-straight and in five of the last six games.

Hamilton had previously been named the league's Rookie of the Week for games played January 19-24. His teammate, freshman guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena), is a four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection (November 23-29, December 28-January 3, January 25-31, February 1-7). Daemen is the only team in the league with multiple players having been selected for Rookie of the Week honors.

Hamilton and the Wildcats can clinch the No. 2 seed to the ECC Tournament and a bye into the semifinal round with a win in either of their two remaining regular season contests this week. Daemen visits Molloy College (Feb. 26) and Queens (Feb. 28) this weekend.

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Players Mentioned

#25 Deion Hamilton: G/F; 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

#44 Ryan Grandits: F; 6' 5"; Graduate Student

#5 Jay Sarkis: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#25 Deion Hamilton
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman
: G/F

#44 Ryan Grandits
: 6' 5"; Graduate Student
: F

#5 Jay Sarkis
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G

Players Mentioned

#25 Deion Hamilton

#44 Ryan Grandits

#5 Jay Sarkis

Players Mentioned

#25 Deion Hamilton

#44 Ryan Grandits

#5 Jay Sarkis