Wildcats Open 2023-24 Campaign In Western Canada This Weekend

Wildcats One Of Six Teams Taking Part In The CCA D2 Canadian Tip-Off Classic

11/2/2023 11:27:00 AM

JUMP BALL
Daemen opens the 2023-24 season this weekend (Nov. 3-5) when it makes the trek to Western Canada to take part in the Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) D2 Canadian Tipoff Classic. The Wildcats will take on Western Washington University, tournament host Simon Fraser University and Seattle Pacific University during the three-day event. All three teams are members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

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.

SOLID EXHIBITION EFFORTS
Daemen played two preseason exhibition games against Division I opponents last week. The opened the slate with a four-point (71-67) loss at the University at Buffalo Monday night. Daemen held a 65-61 lead with just over two minutes to play, but the Bulls used a 9-0 run to secure the win. Graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) led all scorers with 19 points and also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. The Wildcats then took on Syracuse University and suffered an 81-68 setback. The Wildcats hit 11 three-pointers in the game and outscored the Orange 41-32 in the second half.

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 179-74, 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 436-300 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).

ALL IN THE FAMILY
MacDonald's son Nick is a fifth-year senior guard at Daemen. He transferred to Daemen after playing his first two seasons at Division I Niagara.

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 WESTERN WASHINGTON
Western Washington posted an overall record of 15-13 last season, but missed out on the GNAC Tournament with an 8-10 mark in league play. Tony Dominguez enters his 12th season in charge of the program and has 10 total returners including three starters back on a squad that was projected to finish fourth in the GNAC 2023-24 preseason poll. Reigning GNAC Freshman of the Year BJ Kolly and second-team all-conference guard Kai Johnson both return. Kolly averaged 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds, while totaling 62 blocked shots in his debut. Johnson ranked 11th in the conference with 12.9 points and 5.3 rebounds, to go along with 3.0 assists per game. WWU has six newcomers (3 transfers, 3 freshmen), headlined by 2022-23 NWAC Southern Region Player of the Year Will Wilson, who averaged 27.1 points and 6.7 rebounds last season for Mount Hood Community College.

SCOUTING SIMON FRASER
Simon Fraser will look for a turnaround season after going 6-22 overall and 1-17 in conference play in 2022-23. The Red Leafs welcome back four starters to their lineup, including senior guard David Penney who averaged 10.8 points per game last year. Immanuel Oludele is another returning double-figure scorer at 10.3 points per game for Steve Hanson's club as he enters his eighth season. The Red Leafs will lean on a total of 12 players who return with GNAC experience, as well as the return of 6-foot-11 center Sasha Vujisic from injury.

SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC
Seattle Pacific went 17-11 overall and placed third in the GNAC last year with a 12-6 league record. First-year head coach Keffrey Fazio will rely on first-team all-GNAC forward Shaw Anderson, the 2023-24 GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. A 6-foot-7 forward, Anderson led the conference and ranked 34th nationally with 20.1 points per game. Junior guard Maui Sze led the team with 3.0 assists per game while sophomore forward Trace Evans shot 54.5 % from the field, and both are back for SPU this season. The Falcons will be excited about the scoring potential of transfer guards Jadin Penigar, a 6-foot-6 sophomore from Everett Community College, and Owen Moriarty, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Bellevue College. Moriarty led his team with 18.6 points per game in 2022-23 while Penigar finished the season averaging 16.0 points.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to action next weekend (Nov. 10-11) when it hosts the 2023 East Region Challenge presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC.

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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