Men's Basketball Returns To League Play Friday At Staten Island

1/5/2023 9:50:00 AM

GAME #14
Daemen Wildcats (7-6, 1-3 ECC) vs. Staten Island Dolphins (3-9, 1-2 ECC)
DATE: Friday, Jan. 6
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Staten Island, N.Y. | Sports & Recreation Center
LIVE STATS: via CSI Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network

JUMP BALL
Daemen returns to East Coast Conference play with a game at the College of Staten Island Friday (Jan. 6) night.

LAST TIME OUT
Junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) scored 15 points and redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) added 14 points to lead Daemen to a 59-51 victory over Franklin Pierce this past Monday at the FPU Fieldhouse on the Franklin Pierce campus. Daemen has now won four of its last five games and improved to 7-6 overall. FPU, a member of the Northeast-10 Conference, suffered its second-straight loss and dropped to 7-5. Daemen entered the game receiving votes in the latest NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region poll, while Franklin Pierce was ranked seventh. Mason, who scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half, went 3-of-8 from three-point land. Atkins connected on 5-of-10 shots and totaled 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) went 3-of-7 from downtown and finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Junior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) finished with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds, while junior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) contributed six points and tied Fasoyiro for the team lead in rebounds (9).

CLOSE CALLS
Seven of Daemen's 13 games have been decided by eight points or less and the Wildcats are 2-5 in those contests. The Wildcats lost at the final buzzer against regionally-ranked 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 and a 66-60 loss at regionally-ranked Pace.

A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
After shooting just 33-percent (47-143) from the field overall and making just 5-of-41 three-pointers during back-to-back losses to Molloy and Queens, the Wildcats have shot 50-percent from the field overall (168-334) and have canned 59-of-137 (43%) three-point attempts over the last six games.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen leads the ECC in team defense (64.7 papg), field goal percentage defense (.417) and steals per game (6.4). The Wildcats have held their last five opponents to less than 70 points and are 7-2 this season when they allow 70 points or less.

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 145-62 record for a .700 winning percentage.

HOME SWEET HOME
Daemen has played eight of its first 13 games at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats are 84-18 (.824) at home during Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present).

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 166-72 (.697) 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).

MR. CONSISTENT
Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in 12 of the first 13 games and has drained at least one three-pointer in every game. He scored a career-high 20 points in a loss to Slippery Rock and is averaging a team-high 13.4 points. He ranks second on the team in three-pointers made (26) and second among the ECC leaders in free throw percentage (38-45/.844).

MINUTE MAN
Senior Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) has played at least 30 minutes in nine of the 13 games this season and is averaging 30.2 minutes per game. He scored a season-high 14 points in the loss to Molloy and is averaging 6.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and a team-high 3.0 assists per game.

BREAKOUT YEAR FOR ATKINS
Redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) 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 172 points and 86 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 is second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and leads the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg), steals (23) and blocks (29). He was named the ECC Player of the Week earlier this year and is the reining ECC Defensive Player of the Week.

RECORD TYING EFFORT BY MASON
Junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) connected on 7-of-11 three-pointers and scored 21 points in a recent loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. 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. Mason leads the team in minutes played per game (30.8) and is averaging 9.4 points. He ranks third among the ECC leaders in both three-pointers made (31) and three-point field goal percentage (31-68/.456).

SUDDEN IMPACT
Junior transfer Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) has made immediate contributions in his first season with the Wildcats. Slowed by a preseason injury early in the year, he has started the last six games and is averaging 26.9 minutes, 11.3 points (third on the team) and a team-high 6.2 rebounds over that stretch. He also ranks second in assists (14) and steals (9) over the last six games. He scored a career-high 18 points and also dished out a career-high five assists in a recent win over Mercy.

SOLID SIXTH MAN
Junior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) has proven to be a solid sixth man this season. Sidelined by injury most of his first two seasons, he has played in 12 of 13 games this season and is averaging 18.3 minutes off the bench. He scored a career-high 16 points in the win over Cheyney and totaled 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds during a win over Alliance en route to his first career double-double. He ranks second on team in offensive rebounds (31) and total rebounds per game (6.3) and is averaging 7.0 points.

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. Glover has started seven games and is averaging 5.6 points per game.

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 72% of their contests, going 227-90 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 receiving votes in the seventh D2SIDA East Region poll.

SCOUTING STATEN ISLAND
Staten Island returns eight players and four starters from last year's team that went 7-19 overall and 6-12 in its first season an ECC member. Staten Island is currently in year two of transitioning from NCAA Division III to Division II. T.J. Tibbs is in his fifth year as head coach. The Dolphins have lost three-straight games and will be playing their first game since suffering a 95-86 loss at Felician on Dec. 19. The Dolphins feature a balanced offense, with four starers averaging in double figures. Sophomore forward Messiah Mallory, last year's ECC Rookie of the Year, totaled 29 points and 13 rebounds in a 74-69 win over District of Columbia and is avergaing 16.2 points and a league-high 9.0 rebounds per game. Junior forward Bryce Waterman is contributing 14.7 points, while sophomore guard Luis Armas ranks second in the ECC in three-pointers made (40) and is averaging 14.3 points. Freshman guard James Chestnut is dishing out 5.9 assists per game, which ranks third in the leauge. A two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, Chestnut totaled 14 assists in an early season win over Saint Michael's.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. STATEN ISLAND
Series Record: Daemen, 2-0
At Daemen: Daemen, 1-0
At CSI: Daemen, 1-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 91, Staten Island 52 | Jan. 28, 2022 | Amherst, N.Y.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is back in action Monday (Jan. 9) with a non-league game against Assumption of the Northeast-10 Conference at Lumsden Gymnasium. The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 17, but was postponed due to weather.

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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