Wildcats Top ECC Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll

10/26/2022 3:44:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen University has been picked first in the 2022-23 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll following a vote of the league's nine head coaches, the conference announced today.

Daemen, which has posted a 106-35 conference record since joining the ECC for the 2013-14 season, garnered three first-place votes and totaled 69 points in the poll. The Wildcats edged out defending conference champion St. Thomas Aquinas for the top spot, as STAC also collected three first-place votes and totaled 64 points.

Molloy earned two first-place votes and placed third with 60 points. The District of Columbia (46 pts) and Roberts Wesleyan University (45 pts) round out the top five. Staten Island collected the remaining first-place vote and placed sixth (42 pts), while Queens (40 pts), Mercy (27 pts) and D'Youville (11 pts) close out the poll.

Head coach Mike MacDonald returns 10 players from last year's team that finished 20-9 overall and 16-2 in the ECC. The Wildcats suffered a 59-48 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the championship game of the ECC Tournament and were denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Daemen was looking to make its fourth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

MacDonald, who is entering his ninth season at Daemen, must overcome the loss of center Andrew Sischo, a three-time All-America selection who closed out his career as the ECC's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He averaged 22.9 points and a Division II leading 13.0 rebounds per game last year. Not to be overlooked, guard Sean Fasoyiro was also lost to graduation. Fasoyiro ranked second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) last year and collected All-ECC honors in each of his two seasons at Daemen. Shooting guard Kyle Harris, who led the team in three-point field goals (58) last year, was also lost to graduation.

Senior guards Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) and Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) and junior guard Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) top the list of returning players. Salzberg started 26 games last year and averaged 7.3 points with a team-high 91 assists. MacDonald averaged 20 minutes off the bench and contributed 7.2 points per game with 43 three-pointers. Mason started 23 games and ranked third on the team in points per game (9.1) and second in three-pointers (56).

Daemen opens the 2022-23 season by hosting the East Region Challenge presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC, Nov. 11-12.

EAST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
1. DAEMEN (3) – 69
2. St. Thomas Aquinas (3) - 64
3. Molloy (2) - 60
4. Dist. Columbia - 46
5. Roberts Wesleyan – 45
6. Staten Island (1) – 43
7. Queens - 40
8. Mercy - 27
9. D'Youville - 11

( ) denotes first-place votes

Daemen University 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.

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