BUFFALO, N.Y. – Heading into Monday night's contest with D'Youville, the Daemen men's basketball team shot an East Coast Conference worst 31% in 3-point shooting. But as the latest snowstorm arrived in Buffalo, the Wildcats found their long-range shooting and turned up the heat.

Behind a season-best 17 three-pointers, Daemen moved past the D'Youville Saints, 103-69, on the road at College Center Gymnasium, with one of the freshmen leading the way.

In just his sixth game at the collegiate level, Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) had his best game to date as a Wildcat, scoring a new career-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 5-of-9 from three-point range, drilling four of them in the second half alone. His jump-shot with 0:02 remaining in the first half gave Daemen a 49-39 cushion at the break, which snowballed into a 24-4 run for the Wildcats to start the second half.

By converting 17-of-34 three-point attempts, this was the most Daemen made in a single game since Feb. 16, 2020 (16-of-36 in 96-79 win versus Mercy.)

With the victory, Daemen improves to 3-3 on the season and 3-1 in ECC play while D'Youville falls to 1-6 and 0-4 in ECC action. This victory marked the second time this season the Wildcats crossed the 100-point plateau after only accomplishing the feat once last season (103-59 win versus Mercy, Dec. 13, 2019).


IMPACT PLAYERS

• Along with his 25-point outing, Mason snatched eight rebounds and had three assists and three steals in a game-high 31 minutes. Mason was also 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. This was the first 25-point game for a Daemen freshman since Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) dropped 36 against Molloy on Feb. 16, 2018.
• In his fourth straight start, senior guard Kyle Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored 22 points and tied Mason in made field goals (8) and made three-pointers (5). Three of his treys came in in the second half.
• Graduate transfer Sean Fasoyiro (Houston, Texas) scored 19 points on 4-of-9 shooting and went 3-of-5 in three-point shooting. Fasoyiro also had seven rebounds and six assists and was a game-best 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.  
• Sophomore Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) finished with nine points and four rebounds while redshirt junior Ziv Basden (Nassau, Bahamas) added 7 points and a game-high nine rebounds off the bench for Daemen. Freshman Juston Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.) added eight points in his sixth straight start.
• Freshman forward Jared Sullivan led in total points (19) and rebounds (8) in D'Youville's loss. Fellow freshman Mason Putnam finished with 13 points and three assists.

PERIOD-BY-PERIOD SUMMARY
First Half (Daemen 49, D'Youville 39) – The Wildcats and the Saints surely came out swinging as four ties, five combined three-pointers and seven lead changes resulted in the game knotted up at 13 apiece through the first 4:11 of the contest. Daemen found more success all over the floor as two-three pointers from Harris and one from Fasoyiro and inside baskets from Basden and Salzberg all contributed to a 15-2 run. With just over 11 minutes left in the half, Daemen had a 28-15 lead. D'Youville responded with timely shooting as Western New York natives Noah Denz and Trey Boling and Trent Scott cut the deficit to 32-25 with 8:24 remaining. A three-pointer from Juston Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.) on Daemen's next possession briefly gave them a 10-point cushion (35-25) before the Saints brought the deficit down to four points with scoring coming inside from Garrian Wade and Grant Beyer (37-33 Daemen 5:22). A Fasoyiro three-pointer with under five minutes left gave Daemen a nine-point edge (42-33). After exchanges at the free-throw line, Sullivan scored off Noah Denz's assist with 3:10 left (44-39 Daemen) before the Saints ended the half in a cold spell. The Wildcats ended the first half with some momentum as Mason made a running jump shot with two seconds left in the half, giving Daemen the 49-39 lead.  

Second Half (Daemen 54, D'Youville 30) – Mason heated up once more in the opening seconds of the half as his back-to-back three-pointers within the first minute kicked off an 11-0 run, ballooning their lead to 60-39 with 18:27 left and causing an early Saints timeout. Daemen continued to roll in and out of the paint oncemore, however. Harris and Fasoyiro knocked down one each, Mason scored a jumper and Salzberg chipped in five points to extended Daemen's lead to 73-43 with 13:37 remaining – all part of an overwhelming 24-4 run out of the break. Latrell Butler's three-pointer briefly stopped the bleeding on the next possession for the Saints before the Wildcats kept the foot on the gas found more outside shooting from Mason, Harris, Tyler Hind (Randolph, N.Y.) and Da'Shawn Hines (Amherst, N.Y.) knocking down one apiece, and making the most at the free-throw line, with the game well of reach.  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Daemen shot 17-of-34 (50%) three-point shooting and went 10-of-17 (58.8%) in the second half alone. Six different Wildcats converted beyond the arc, with three players making three or more, in the victory.
• While Daemen finished tied with D'Youville in points in the paint (26), they outgained their foe in total rebounds (43-33), points off turnovers (19-12), second chance points (18-13), fast-break points (10-4). Daemen also shot 20-of-25 (80%) at the free-throw line and are now 3-0 after converting 20 or more attempts in a game this season.
• D'Youville shot 26-of-64 (40.6%) from the field and were 8-of-22 (36.4%) from three-point range. The Saints also outscored the Wildcats off the bench, 38-25.

GAME NOTES

• Daemen played without Sischo, the nation's leading scorer (29.8 ppg) and rebounder (14.4 rpg).
• Tonight marked Daemen's first game with three freshmen in the starting lineup (Johnson, Hemphill, Mason) since the program's lone appearance in the ECC Championship finals, March 6, 2016 vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Jay Sarkis, Deion Hamilton, Darius Garvin).
• After not seeing each other in 17 years, tonight's matchup was their second tip-off in as many weeks and the second of three contests as ECC foes this season. The Wildcats remained unbeaten (8-0) in the all-time series with D'Youville and are now 3-0 as the visitors.
• Graduate transfer Sean Fasoyiro has made an immediate impact with double-figure scoring in each of Daemen's first six games. Fasoyiro, who played in 81 games over three seasons at Franklin Pierce, is one of only four Daemen players that entered this season with at least 25 games of collegiate experience. He is averaging 15.2 points per game.
• Since being inserted into the starting lineup four games ago, senior guard Kyle Harris is producing 16.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. Harris has hit multiple three-pointers in five of Daemen's six games this season.
• Daemen is coming off back-to-back 24-win seasons that resulted in NCAA tournament berths. Daemen's 89 wins from 2016-17 through 2019-20 represents the most successful four-year span in program history. The Wildcats were hit hard by graduation, losing four of their five starters, all of whom were 1,000-point scorers.
• Daemen was hit hard by graduation, losing four starters who each surpassed 1,000 points in their respective careers. Only Sischo, Harris, Fasoyiro and redshirt junior forward Ziv Basden started the season with more than 25 college games under their belt. Six of Daemen's 12 players are either freshmen or sophomores. Eight Daemen players have exercised their right to opt out of the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19.
   

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen welcomes rival Roberts Wesleyan to Lumsden Gymnasium later this week (Wednesday, Feb. 17) as they look to avenge last Thursday's loss to the Redhawks. This is the start of a four-game homestand for the Wildcats, which includes a weekend series versus Mercy on Feb. 20 – 21 and the third and final regular season date with D'Youville on Feb. 24. All contests will be streamed on the East Coast Conference Network.
 

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Support Daemen College's return to intercollegiate athletic competitions by making a contribution to the Game On Campaign and the Daemen Wildcats Gotta Play Fund. This comprehensive fundraising campaign was established to help offset the loss of valuable external revenue streams that directly support Daemen's 17 varsity teams. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.