Men's Basketball Hosts Alliance Sunday Afternoon

11/25/2022 9:58:00 AM

GAME #5
Daemen Wildcats (2-2, 0-0 ECC) vs. Alliance (4-2, 0-0 CACC)
DATE: Sunday, Nov. 27
TIME: 12 p.m.
LOCATION: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
LIVE STATS: via Daemen Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network

JUMP BALL
Daemen returns to the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium for a non-conference game against Alliance University (formerly Nyack College) Sunday afternoon.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Tickets for all 2022-23 Daemen home games are on sale through Daemen's online ticketing web page. Lock in your tickets before arriving at Lumsden Gym. Visit http://daemenwildcats.com/tickets for details. Please note, all tickets must be purchased online. No cash sales will be available at Lumsden Gym.

LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK
After opening the year with wins over Georgian Court (65-60) and regionally-ranked Saint Anselm (81-69) during the East Region Challenge, Daemen has suffered back-to-back losses to regionally-ranked Mercyhurst (62-61) and Slippery Rock (82-60). The Wildcats shot 47-percent (52-111) overall and 41-percent (17-41) from behind the arc during the two wins, but have shot just 37-percent (39-106) from the field overall and 32-percent (12-37) from three-point land during the two losses.

HOME SWEET HOME
Daemen will play six of its first seven games at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats are 82-16 (.837) at home during Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). Daemen has won 11-straight games against CACC teams at Lumsden and is 12-1 at home against the CACC during the NCAA Division II era. The lone loss came against Holy Family University during the second round 2015 ECC/CACC Challenge.

BALANCED ATTACK
The Wildcats feature a balanced attack, with nine players averaging over nine minutes a game. Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in all four games and netted a career-high 20 points in the loss to Slippery Rock. He is shooting 45-percent (9-20) from downtown and averaging a team-high 16.8 points. Redshirt senior Joey Atkins Watervliet, N.Y.) scored in double figures in each of the first three games and is averaging 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds with a team-high nine blocks. Atkins, who scored in double figures just once all of last season, scored a career-high 17 points in the loss to Mercyhurst. Additional production has come from senior Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) and junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.). Salzberg totaled 11 points and seven boards against Mercyhurst and is averaging 7.5 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game. Mason scored 12 points in the loss to Mercyhurst. Freshman Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) has started all four games and scored a season-high 15 points in the win over Saint Anselm.

RETURN OF THE MAC
Mike MacDonald returns for his ninth season on Daemen's bench and his 26^th overall as a collegiate head coach. The veteran mentor has led Daemen to a 161-68 (.703) record since taking the reins in 2014. The Wildcats rank second in victories among all East Coast Conference and New York State Division II teams in that span. He has won more games at Daemen than during previous stints as the head coach at Canisius (108 wins in nine seasons) and Medaille (149 wins in eight seasons). MacDonald is among an elite fraternity of coaches to have achieved 100 victories across all three NCAA divisions. Daemen's 81-72 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 8, 2021 was the 400th of his career.

NEW LOOK WILDCATS
Daemen returns 10 players from last year and welcomes six freshmen and three transfers. The Wildcats finished 20-9 overall and 16-2 in the ECC last year. 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. 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.), redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, 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. Atkins played in 27 of 29 games last year and ranked second on the team in blocks (21). Mason started 23 games and ranked third on the team in points per game (9.1) and second in three-pointers (56).

ATKINS NAMED ECC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) was selected the ECC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for games played Nov. 7-13. Atkins was named Most Valuable Player following the East Region Challenge. Atkins connected on 6-of-10 shots and totaled 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks in a 65-60 season opening win over Georgian Court University. The redshirt senior forward followed up with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks to lead the Daemen to an 81-69 victory over Saint Anselm College in a battle of regionally-ranked teams. Over the two games he shot 60-percent (12-20) from the field and averaged 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks.

ALL-TOURNAMENT FOR MACDONALD
Senior guard Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) was named to the all-tournament team following the East Region Challenge. He scored 16 points in each game, averaged 5.0 rebounds and canned 13-of-14 free throws.

HEY ROOKIE
Freshman guard Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) had a successful collegiate debut, as he was also named to the all-tournament team following the East Region Challenge. He started both games and averaged 10.0 points and 25.5 minutes per game. He drilled three three-pointers and scored 15 points in the win over regionally-ranked Saint Anselm.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
The Daemen program has been built on sustained success, winning at least 19 games in 10 of the last 11 seasons. That span encompasses the end of Daemen's NAIA Era, its NCAA transition period and the first seven seasons of full NCAA Division II membership. The Wildcats have won 71% of their contests, going 229-92 in that span. Looking more recently, Daemen is 102-39 since the start of the 2017-18 season (.723 winning percentage).

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Coach MacDonald's son Nick is a senior guard at Daemen. He transferred to Daemen after playing his first two seasons at Division I Niagara. Also, junior guard Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) is the younger brother of Sean Fasoyiro, who played the last two seasons at Daemen and earned all-conference honors each year.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
Daemen earned three consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament berths from 2019 to 2021. The Wildcats won 24 games (NCAA era program record) and earned at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in 2019 and 2020. The Wildcats entered the 2021 tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region and picked up their first-ever NCAA tourney win with an 81-69 defeat of third-seeded Bloomfield in the opening round. The Wildcats then upset top-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas in the regional championship game en route to the program's first regional championship and Elite Eight appearance. Daemen posted a 20-9 record last year, but was denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

POLL POSITION
Daemen was voted first in the ECC preseason coaches' poll and was also receiving votes in the preseason NABC Division II poll. The Wildcats are ranked fourth in the second D2SIDA East Region poll.

SCOUTING ALLIANCE
Alliance (formerly Nyack College) is a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. AU went 11-14 overall and 8-9 in the CACC last year. AU opened the 2022-23 season with a 91-52 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas, before it reeled off four-straight wins over Mercy (81-60), District of Columbia (79-74), Lock Haven (72-68) and Mansfield (68-63). AU is coming off an 88-73 loss at Queens this past Wednesday. Head coach Valiant Jones, who played two seasons at Nyack (2008-10), returns for his fifth season. AU returns eight players and three starters from last year's team. Senior swingman Isayas Aris and graduate student guard Joel Bailey top the list of returning players. Aris led the team in scoring (18.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.6 rpg) last year and earned second team All-CACC honors. Bailey averaged 14.6 points last year and was named third team All-CACC. Aris is off to an outstanding start this season and is averaging 20.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He has registered a double-double in four of AU's six games and totaled 33 points and 13 rebounds in the win over Mercy. Bailey netted 26 points in the win over UDC and is averaging 16.4 points and a team-high 4.0 assists. Senior guard Tavien Kemp, a former standout at Archbishop Walsh and Erie Community College, scored 15 points against Mercy and is averaging 9.5 points with a team-high seven three-pointers. AU was picked sixth in the CACC North preseason coaches' poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. ALLIANCE
Series Record: Daemen, 5-1
At Daemen: Daemen, 4-0
At AU, AU, 1-0
At Neutral Site: Daemen, 1-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 80, Nyack 74 | Nov. 9, 2019 | at Amherst, N.Y. (ECC/CACC Challenge)

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium next weekend when it opens ECC play by hosting Molloy (Dec. 2) and Queens (Dec. 4).

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.

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

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