Wildcats Hit The Road For Games At Mercyhurst And Dominican This Week

11/14/2023 1:57:00 PM

JUMP BALL
Daemen hits the road this week for two non-conference games at Mercyhurst University and Dominican University.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Tickets for all 2023-24 Daemen home games are on sale through Daemen's online ticketing portal. Lock in your tickets before arriving at Lumsden Gym. Please note, all tickets must be purchased online. No cash sales will be available at Lumsden Gym.

THE SEASON AHEAD
The Wildcats return several key players and a total of 14 players from their 2022-23 team which went 20-8 overall and 12-4 in the East Coast Conference. The Wildcats advanced to the ECC Tournament championship game, where they suffered a 72-66 loss to top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas College. Daemen was picked second in the ECC preseason coaches' poll and is receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II preseason poll.

EAST REGION CHALLENGE RECAP
Daemen posted wins over Chesniut Hill (88-50) and Goldey-Beacom (75-67) during the 2023 East Region Challenge at Lumsden Gymnasium last weekend. Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) scored 21 points in the win over Goldey-Beacom and was named Tournament MVP. Fellow senior Andrew Mason and sophomore Justin Glover were named to the all-tournament team. Mason scored 18 points in the win over GBC, while Glover scored 15 in the win over CHC.

RETURN OF THE MAC
Head coach Mike MacDonald returns for his 10th season on Daemen's bench and his 27^th overall as a collegiate head coach. Daemen has posted at least 20 wins in five of the last six seasons (Daemen only played 16 games during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season) and MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a record of 182-76, three NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and the 2021 NCAA Division II East Region title. 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. His overall career record stands at 439-302 and Daemen's 81-72 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 8, 2021 was the 400th of his career.

FAMILIAR FACES
All-ECC selections Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.), Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.), Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) and Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) all return in 2023-24. Atkins earned first-team All-ECC honors in his first season as a starter last year after averaging 11.9 points and 6.2 rebounds. He also ranked eighth among all Division II players in blocks (65). Fasoyiro averaged a team-high 13.4 points in his first season with the team, while MacDonald contributed 12.4 points. Mason averaged 10.9 points and led all three NCAA divisions in three-point field goal percentage (.516) last year. Veteran point guard Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.), who started all 28 games last year and averaged 32 minutes a game, was set to return but suffered a preseason injury. Senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.), a 6-foot-6 forward, is coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 9.0 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds off the bench. Sophomore guard Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) is set to step into the starting lineup following the loss of Salzberg. Glover played in 23 games (seven starts) as a freshman and averaged 4.9 points and 1.8 assists. Ayden Harrison (Clifton Park, N.Y.), Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) and Jackson Kulik (Webster, N.Y.) also join the mix after red shirting their freshman season last year.

NEWCOMERS
Three newcomers join the fold in 2023-24. Redshirt sophomore guard Jarius Jones (Gahanna, Ohio) spent the past two years at Ohio Dominican University. Freshmen Zach Philipkoski (New Harford, N.Y.) and Ryan Heath (Rochester, N.Y.) both earned New York State Class A all-state honors last winter and Philipkoski was also honored as the New York State Class A Player of the Year.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
The Daemen program has been built on sustained success, winning at least 19 games in 11 of the last 12 seasons. That span encompasses the end of Daemen's NAIA Era, its NCAA transition period and the first eight seasons of full NCAA Division II membership. The Wildcats have won 72% of their contests, going 247-98 in that span. Looking more recently, Daemen is 120-45 since the start of the 2017-18 season (.730 winning percentage).

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 has posted 20 wins this last two seasons, but was denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament each year.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Mercyhurst (2-2, 0-0 PSAC) is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Lakers went 25-6 overall (18-4 PSAC), lost in the championship game of the PSAC Tournament and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. Head coach Gary Manchel is entering his 21st season with the Lakers and has led MU to an NCAA Tournament appearance seven times over the last nine seasons. MU returns just one starter and seven players from last year. Graduate student Jeff Planutis is back after averaging 14.7 points with 54 three-pointers last year. Junior Aidan Reichert played in all 31 games and averaged 20 minutes and 9.3 points last year. The Lakers brought in four true freshmen and two transfers. 6-foot-7 sophomore Max Jusianiec played at Saint Rose last year and was named to the Northeast-10 Conference all-rookie team after averaging 11.0 points with 50 three-pointers. Mercyhurst was picked third in the PSAC West Division preseason coaches' poll and is ranked No. 25 in the NABC Division II preseason poll. The Lakers opened the season at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. and suffered losses to the University of Central Oklahoma (97-58) and Colorado School of Mines (65-62). They rebounded with wins over Frostburg State (98-82) and Bluefield State (64-61) this past weekend. Planutis scored 23 points in the win over Frostburg and is averaging a team-high 17.0 points. Jusianiec went 3-for-3 from downtown and scored 20 points against Frostburg and is averaging 11.0 points.

SERIES HISTORY
Mercyhurst has prevailed in seven of the nine all-time meetings. Michael Bradley's buzzer beater lifted the Lakers to a 62-61 win at Lumsden Gymnasium last year.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Dominican is a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Chargers went 21-9 overall (12-6 CACC), lost in the quarterfinals of the CACC Tournament and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament last year. Head coach Joe Clinton is entering his 32nd season with the Chargers. Dominican returns two starters and 13 players from last year. Redshirt sophomore Javel Cherry returns after ranking third on the team in scoring (9.3 ppg) last year. The Chargers were picked second in the CACC North Division preseason coaches' poll. Dominican opened the year with wins over D'Youville (116-81) and Mercy (112-87) this past weekend at the Caldwell Tip-Off Tournament. Cherry scored 25 points in the win over D'Youville and followed up with 24 points against Mercy.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will be just the fifth all-time meeting, and the first since the 2016-17 season, between the two teams. Daemen has prevailed in three of the four previous meetings.

POLL POSITION
Daemen, Mercyhurst and Dominican are all ranked in their respective D2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) regional poll. Daemen is tied for fifth in the East Region, while Dominican is ranked ninth in the East. Mercyhurst is ranked fifth in the Atlantic Region.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium on Tuesday (Nov. 21) when it hosts Slippery Rock University.

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.

Print Friendly Version