Geoff Schneider

Wildcats Host Clarion In Non-League Game Wednesday

12/13/2022 11:57:00 AM

GAME #10
Daemen Wildcats (4-5, 1-3 ECC) vs. Clarion Golden Eagles (2-5, 0-2 PSAC)
DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 14
TIME: 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
LIVE STATS: via Daemen Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network / TICKETS: via Daemen Athletics

JUMP BALL
Daemen returns to non-conference play Wednesday (Dec. 14) when the Wildcats hosts Clarion of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The game was originally scheduled for Nov. 19, but was postponed due to the winter storm that his the Western New York region that weekend.

LAST TIME OUT
Daemen suffered a 72-70 loss at nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas and defeated Mercy 86-62 last weekend. The Wildcats established season highs for points (86), field goals made (33) and three-pointers made (12) in the win over Mercy.

LONG TIME NO SEE
Wednesday's game will mark just the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and Clarion and the first actual meeting since the 1999-00 season. Clarion prevailed in the first two meetings in 1998 and 1999 and Daemen won by forfeit during 2000-01 season. The teams were schedule to play last year at Clarion, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. Clarion will be making its first ever appearance at Lumsden Gymnasium Wednesday.

CLOSE CALLS
Five of Daemen's nine games have been decided by five points or less and the Wildcats are just 1-4 in those contests. The Wildcats lost at the final buzzer against Mercyhurst (62-61) and opened ECC play with tight losses to Molloy (72-69) and Queens (70-65). The Wildcats also suffered a 72-70 loss at nationally-ranked Saint Thomas Aquinas this past Friday.

200TH NCAA DIVISION II GAME
The game against Molloy back on Dec. 2 was Daemen's 200th as a NCAA Division II member. Since Daemen gained full NCAA status prior to the 2015-16 season, the Wildcats have posted a 142-61 record for a .700 winning percentage. Daemen is 100-35 (.741) against ECC teams since the 2015-16 season.

HOME SWEET HOME
Daemen will play nine of its first 13 games at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats are 83-18 (.822) at home during Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present).

BALANCED ATTACK
The Wildcats feature a balanced attack, with eight players averaging over 18 minutes a game. Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in eight of the nine games and netted a career-high 20 points in a loss to Slippery Rock. He ranks fourth in the ECC in free throw percentage (33-40/.825) and averaging a team-high 14.1 points. Redshirt senior Joey Atkins Watervliet, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in seven games and is averaging 12.9 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds. He has also recorded a team-high 18 steals and 20 blocks. Atkins, who scored in double figures just once all of last season, recorded his first career double-double (career-high 19 pts, career-high 11 rebs) in a loss Queens. Juniors Andrew Mason (Webster, N,Y.) and Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) have provided a spark in recent games. Mason drilled a career-high seven three-points and scored 21 points in the loss to St. Thomas Aquinas and scored 19 points in the win over Mercy. Fasoyiro has scored in double figures in three of the last four games and scored a season-high 18 points in the win over Mercy. Additional production has come from senior Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.), junior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) and freshman Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.). Salzberg scored a season-high 14 points in the loss to Molloy and is averaging 7.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and a team-high 2.8 assists per game. Hemphill contributed nine points, six rebounds and five assists in the win over Mercy and is averaging 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds. Glover equaled his season-high for points (15) in the win over Mercy and is averaging 6.3 points.

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 163-71 (.700) 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).

RECORD TYING EFFORT BY MASON
Junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) connected on 7-of-11 three-pointers and scored 21 points in the loss to St. Thomas Aquinas last weekend. The seven three-pointers tied Daemen's NCAA-era (2015-present) record for three-pointers in a game originally set by current assistant coach Jeff Redband. Redband made seven three-pointers in a game four times during his career, most recently on Feb. 7, 2020 during a loss at Bridgeport.

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 also 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 season-opening 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 season-opening 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 228-91 in that span.

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 10th in the fifth D2SIDA East Region poll.

SCOUTING CLARION
Clarion is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The Golden Eagles return just six players from last year's team that went 9-18 overall and 5-17 in the PSAC. Damian Pitts in his fourth season as head coach. Clarion has dropped its last three games and fell to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in the PSAC following a 77-70 loss to Lake Erie College this past Saturday. Junior guards Mekhi Reynolds and Gerald Jarmon have paced the Golden Eagles thus far. Reynolds, who scored in double figures just three times last year, has reached double digits in points in all seven games this season and is averaging a team-high 17.6 points. Jarmon led the team in scoring (20.3 ppg) last year and is averaging 16.0 points this year. Additional production has come from freshman guard Cam Kearney (14.3 ppg) and freshman forward Jayson Harris (6.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg). Kearney scored 20 points in the loss to Lake Erie, while Harris added 12 points and nine rebounds. Clarion was picked seventh in the PSAC West preseason coaches' poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. CLARION
Series Record: Clarion, 2-1
At Daemen: Daemen, 1-0
At Clarion, Clarion, 2-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 2, Clarion 0 (Forfeit) | Jan, 22, 2001 | at Amherst, N.Y.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen plays its second of five-straight non-conference games Saturday (Dec. 17) when it hosts Assumption University of the Northeast-10 Conference.

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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