AMHERST, N.Y. - Lumsden Gymnasium, the home venue for the Daemen College basketball and volleyball teams, was one of a select number of facilities to serve as a practice site for visiting teams as part of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament first and second round games which were played at Key Bank Center in downtown Buffalo last week.
On Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15, the men's basketball teams from West Virginia University and the University of Wisconsin utilized Lumsden Gymnasium for their practices in preparation for their respective first round games, before also participating in open practice sessions at Key Bank Center Wednesday afternoon.
"We were thrilled to have Lumsden Gymnasium selected as a practice site, and happy to open our doors to two of college basketball's finest Division I programs," said Daemen head men's basketball coach
Mike MacDonald who coordinated the effort to bring competing teams here for their practices. Â "It was even more thrilling to see both teams win their respective games and advance to the Sweet 16."
WVU, a member of the Big 12 Conference and the No. 4 seed in the West Region, defeated 13th-seeded Bucknell University 86-80 in Thursday's opening round before dispatching of fifth-seeded University of Notre Dame, 83-71 Saturday.
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Wisconsin, the No. 8 seed in the East Region and a member of the Big 10 Conference, pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament Saturday, knocking off the No. 1 overall seed and defending national champion Villanova University 65-62. Â The Badgers advanced into the second round with an 84-74 defeat of ninth-seeded Virginia Tech University Thursday evening.
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It's been a busy year for Lumsden Gymnasium which also hosted the entire East Coast Conference Volleyball Championship tournament last November, as well as the entire Atlantic Regional portion of the NCAA Division II Volleyball National Championship tournament in early December.  The Daemen women's volleyball team advanced to the finals of both the ECC and Atlantic Regional tournaments during their 25-8 campaign.  The Daemen women's basketball team won seven of their final nine home games during the 2016-17 season, and their counterparts on the men's basketball team matched the program record for home wins in a season with 14.  The Wildcat men are 70-10 at Lumsden Gymnasium since the start of the 2011-12 season, including a 73-71 defeat of the University of the District of Columbia on March 1 in the team's first-ever home conference tournament game at the NCAA Division II level.
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