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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
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Athlete Awards

Athletes of the Month

Deion Hamilton

  • Award
    Athletes of the Month
  • Week Of
    3/5/2016
  • Sport
    Men's Basketball
  • Bio
    View Full Bio
AMHERST, N.Y. – Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) have been named the Daemen College Student-Athletes of the Month presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC for February, 2016.

Hamilton, a 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman forward on the men's basketball team, helped the Wildcats secure their first-ever berth in the East Coast Conference Championship Tournament. For the month, Hamilton appeared in all nine of the team's games (eight as a starter) and led the Wildcats to a 6-3 record. Daemen closed out the regular-season with an 18-9 overall recorded and claimed the No. 2 seed in the ECC Tournament with a 14-6 league mark. Hamilton averaged 11.6 points and was the team's leading scorer twice during the nine games. He shot 49-percent (38-78) from the field over the nine games and also contributed 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

The highlight of the month came during a 96-88 win over rival Roberts Wesleyan College on Feb. 17 at Lumsden Gym during which he connected on 9-of-14 shots and scored a career-high 24 points. He followed up with 13 points in an 88-76 loss to Long Island University-Post and 17 points in a 93-68 win over New York Institute of Technology. Those three efforts earned him ECC Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season. Hamilton also totaled 19 points and seven rebounds in a 78-69 win over the University of Bridgeport and contributed 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals in a 100-86 win over Mercy earlier in the month.

After seeing limited action over the first 11 games, Hamilton has started 15 of the last 16 games and the Wildcats are 13-3 over that stretch. He has shot 49-percent (61-125) from the field and has averaged 10.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals since entering the starting lineup.

The men's basketball team begins post-season play when it takes on Mercy College in the semifinals of the ECC Tournament Saturday (March 5) at 7:30 p.m. Both semifinal games and the tournament championship game are being hosted by the University of the District of Columbia. Mercy, the tournament's No. 6 seed, upset third-seeded District of Columbia in the opening round. The Wildcats swept the season series from the upstart Mavericks this season, posting a 94-81 victory at Lumsden Gym and completing the sweep with a 100-86 victory at Mercy last month.

Donahue, a redshirt-sophomore on the women's track and field team, capped the indoor season by being named All-Region by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) at both the 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter distances. The announcement of Donahue's All-Region selection marks the first such honor for a Daemen indoor track and field athlete at the NCAA Division II level.

She opened the month by placing first out of 11 runners in the 5,000 meter run at the SPIRE Indoor Track and Field Challenge. Her team-record time of 17:15.05 eclipsed the provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II National Championships (17:28.78), and put herself in contention for an invitation to the national championship meet. Her dominant effort earned her ECC Track Athlete of the Week honors—making Donahue the first-ever Daemen indoor track and field athlete to be selected as the ECC's Track Athlete of the Week.

After severe winter weather canceled a schedule meet on Feb. 13, Donahue and the Wildcats were off until Feb. 20 when they took part in the Colgate Class of '32 Invitational. The time off certainly had no impact on Donahue, as she shaved 30 seconds off her own team record in the 3,000 meter run and placed seventh out of 24 runners with a time of 10:15.43.

Donahue capped the month by leading the Wildcats to a fourth-place showing at the ECC Championships—the program's best-ever finish since joining the league in 2013. Donahue placed first and set conference records in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meter run. Donahue posted a time of 10:18.72 in the 3,000 meters—just three seconds off her school-record time she set at Colgate a week earlier. It was also a little less than a second better than the previous conference championship record of 10:19.31 set by Indira Avilla of Queens College in 2013. Donahue followed up with a time of 17:30.18 in the 5,000 meters, smashing the previous championship record of 17:44.88 set by Avilla in 2013.

Despite eclipsing the NCAA Division II National Championships provisional qualifying time in the 5,000 meters, Donahue's time was not one of the top-16 times from across the country and as a result she will not be competing at the national championship meet next weekend in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Donahue will now prepare for the upcoming outdoor track and field season, which gets underway on April 3 at the Rochester University Alumni Invitational.


Athlete Awards
Date Athlete Sport
5/6/2015 Toria Williams Women's Track & Field
5/6/2015 Robert Ralyea Men's Track & Field
4/10/2015 Gerald Beverly Men's Basketball
4/10/2015 Shy Britton Women's Basketball
3/10/2015 Jordan Greene Men's Basketball
3/10/2015 Raeann Stilwell Women's Basketball
2/4/2015 Sarah Saba Women's Basketball
2/4/2015 Torrence Dyck Men's Basketball
1/4/2015 Raeann Stilwell Women's Basketball
1/4/2015 Supreme Hannah Men's Basketball
12/2/2014 Gerald Beverly Men's Basketball
12/2/2014 Juli Prentice Women's Soccer
11/5/2014 Maria McGrath Women's Tennis
11/5/2014 Jeremy Rushok Men's Cross Country
10/2/2014 Mackenzie Donahue Women's Cross Country
10/2/2014 Cole Beale Men's Soccer
5/1/2014 Kathryn Gross Women's Track & Field
5/1/2014 Niko Jemmison Men's Track & Field
4/2/2014 Gregory Lowe Men's Tennis
3/1/2014 Kadeem Johnson Men's Basketball
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