Mason and Atkins Collect Weekly ECC Honors

Mason Named Player of the Week; Atkins Earns Defensive Player of the Week

1/17/2023 3:02:00 PM

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

AMHERST, N.Y. – Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y) and Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) of the Daemen University men's basketball team have been honored by the East Coast Conference for their play last week (Jan. 9-15). Mason was selected the ECC Men's Basketball Player of the Week, while Atkins was named the ECC Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week. The announcement of award winners was made via the league's weekly sport report, which was released this afternoon.

Mason and Atkins led the Wildcats to a pair of wins last week, as Daemen improved to 10-6 overall and 3-3 in the ECC.

It marks the first time in Mason's three-year career that he has collected ECC Player of the Week honors. He was a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection back in 2020-21. Atkins has now collected a weekly award from the ECC three times this season. A two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection, he was also named ECC Player of the Week earlier this year.

It also marks the third-straight week that Daemen has produced the ECC Defensive Player of the Week. Atkins collected the honor two weeks ago and junior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) earned the honor last week.

Mason, a 6-foot-3 guard, connected on 11-of-14 three-point attempts and averaged a team-high 19.0 points during wins over Assumption and Roberts Wesleyan last week. He went 4-of-5 from downtown and scored 16 points in an 88-74 win over Assumption and made 7-of-9 three-pointers and scored a season-high 22 points in an 82-65 win over Roberts Wesleyan. It marked the second time this season he has made seven triples in a game. The seven three-pointers also tied Daemen's NCAA-era (2015-present) record for three-pointers in a game. Mason also registered 13 rebounds over the two games.

A product of Webster-Thomas High School, Mason leads the team in minutes played per game (31.8) and is averaging 10.9 points. He ranks third among the ECC leaders in three-pointers made (45) and ranks fifth among all Division II players in three-point field goal percentage (45-87/.517).

Atkins, a 6-foot-5 redshirt senior forward, headed up a defense that allowed just 139 points (69.5 per game) and limited its two opponents to just 41% (51-124) from the field. He contributed seven rebounds (six defensive), three blocks and four steals during the win over Assumption and capped the week with five defensive rebounds and a career-high five blocks against Roberts Wesleyan. He averaged 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 4.0 blocks and 2.0 steals over the two games.

A product of Watervliet High School, Atkins is enjoying the most productive season of his collegiate career. After totaling just 131 points and 89 rebounds over his first two seasons (one at Jefferson, one at Daemen), he has already totaled 213 points and 103 rebounds this year. He totaled a career-high 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds en route to his first career double-double during a loss to Queens on Dec. 4. The MVP of the season-opening East Region Challenge, he leads the team in scoring (13.3 ppg), steals (27) and blocks (40) and ranks second in rebounding (6.4 rpg).

The Wildcats begin a stretch of four-straight road games tonight (Jan. 17) when they travel across town to face D'Youville in an ECC game. Daemen will close the week with a league game at District of Columbia on Saturday (Jan. 21).

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 University men's basketball program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.

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