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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
macdonald mbb vs fpu
Geoff Schneider
61
Queens (NY) QUEM 5-5,3-3 ECC
76
Winner Daemen DAEM 10-6,7-0 ECC
Queens (NY) QUEM
5-5,3-3 ECC
61
Final
76
Daemen DAEM
10-6,7-0 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Queens (NY) QUEM 27 34 61
Daemen DAEM 34 42 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | CONTACT: Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications | (716) 839-8385 | mmiranto@daemen.edu

Wildcats Complete Weekend Sweep With 76-61 Win Over Queens

Latest Daemen victory sets up huge first-place showdown at St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday night

AMHERST, N.Y. – Five players reached double figures and Daemen never trailed as the Wildcats scored a 76-61 victory over the visiting Queens Knights in East Coast Conference men's basketball action this afternoon at Lumsden Gymnasium. The win extends Daemen's unbeaten streak to five straight games and gives them a sweep of this weekend's contests following Friday's 93-59 dismantling of Molloy. 

Daemen improved to 10-6 overall and kept their unblemished conference record intact at 7-0. It marks the Wildcats' best-ever start to an ECC season - the program's conference affiliation since the 2013-14 campaign. The Wildcats have won 14 of their last 16 ECC contests dating back to last season and are unbeaten in their last 13 ECC home games. 

Queens, which was looking to sweep their two-game trip to Western New York after defeating D'Youville 78-64 on Friday night, saw their modest three-game winning streak go by the wayside. The Knights dropped to .500 both overall (5-5) and in the conference (3-3). 

Four of the five Daemen starters scored in a game-opening 11-2 run that immediately put the Wildcats in control. After the Knights pulled within 28-26 on a hoop by Eddie Mehmetaj, Daemen responded with an 18-4 spurt that spanned the end of the first half and start of the second. The run featured 10 unanswered points, keyed by three-pointers from Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) and Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.).

Daemen maintained a double-figure advantage for the remainder of the contest and led by as much as 20 points. The Wildcats shot 52% from the field (29-for-56) while limiting Queens to 41% (26-for-63).  

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Daemen big man Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) had an off shooting night (7-for-15) by his lofty standards, but still managed to record game-highs in points (16) and rebounds (16). It marked his NCAA Division II-leading 14th double-double of the season and he's now scored 10+ points in 81 of his last 82 games.
  • Sean Fasoyiro (Houston, Texas) was a catalyst at both ends of the floor, finishing with 14 points, six boards and three assists.
  • Mason knocked down a trio of three-pointers as part of an 11-point outing and Kyle Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) chipped in with 11 points as well - his fifth double-figure outing in the last seven games.
  • Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) came off the bench to score 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. The Wildcats are now 5-1 this season when MacDonald reaches double figures.
  • Juston Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) also gave the Wildcats key minutes off the bench. Johnson matched his season-high with six points while Atkins contributed a career-high four blocks.
  • Tyler Carey (14 points), Jayden Seraphin (12 points) and Mehmetaj (12 points, eight rebounds, four assists) paced the Knights in a losing effort.

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen returns 11 players, including all five starters, from their 2020-21 team that won the NCAA Division II East Region Championship and advanced to the Elite Eight.
  • Mike MacDonald is now 149-63 in his eight seasons as Daemen's head coach. His 149 wins match his total from an eight-year stint (2006-14) as the head coach at Division III Medaille. MacDonald is 406-289 in 25 seasons as a collegiate head coach. 
  • The win marked Daemen's 10th straight against Queens, improving to 15-2 in the all-time series. Queens remains winless (0-8) all-time at Lumsden Gymnasium. Today's game was the teams' first meeting since March 4, 2020. 
  • Daemen out-rebounded the Knights 39-29. Queens entered the weekend with a rebounding margin of +9.0 per game - 10th best in Division II. 
  • Daemen is 7-0 in conference play for the first time since 2003-04. Competing as a member of the now-defunct American Mideast Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the 2003-04 Wildcats won their first eight conference games en route to an 11-3 finish. 
  • Daemen's home court success: 48-5 in last 53 home games; 63-10 all-time in home ECC games; 87-16 at home under MacDonald, including a 76-14 mark since the program gained full NCAA Division II membership in 2015. 
  • A two-time consensus All-American and three-time ECC Player of the Year, Sischo was named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List yesterday. He is NCAA Division II's active leader in career points (2,579), rebounds (1,321) and double-doubles (74). He is the all-time leading scorer and all-time leading rebounder in Daemen and ECC history. He ranks 24th in points and 10th in rebounds among the all-time NCAA Division II career leaders.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Today's win sets up a huge showdown between the ECC's last remaining unbeaten teams. The Wildcats and St. Thomas Aquinas (12-3, 5-0 ECC) will write another chapter in what has become one of the top rivalries in Division II. The teams meet Friday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Aquinas Hall. 

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 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.

Follow the Daemen College men's basketball program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @DaemenMBB. 
 
 
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