East Region Challenge On Tap This Weekend At Lumsden Gymnasium

Tournament Features Teams From Two NCAA Division II East Region Conferences

11/8/2023 10:41:00 AM

JUMP BALL
Daemen hosts the East Region Challenge presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC Friday and Saturday at Lumsden Gymnasium. The event brings together teams from two of the three Division II conferences in the NCAA East region.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The event tips off at 5 p.m. Friday with Roberts Wesleyan of the East Coast Conference (ECC) taking on Goldey-Beacom College, a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) affiliate. RWU has been a part of each of the previous seven tournaments and the Redhawks hold a 5-9 all-time tournament record. Goldey-Beacom will be making its tournament debut. The 7 p.m. Friday nightcap has Daemen taking on another CACC team making its tournament debut, Chestnut Hill College. It will mark the first ever meeting between Daemen and Chestnut Hill. The Wildcats will put their 13-1 all-time tournament mark on the line. The matchups flip on Saturday. Roberts Wesleyan takes on Chestnut Hill at 12 p.m., followed by Daemen facing Goldey-Beacon at 2 p.m. It will mark just the third all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Lightning, and the first since the 2013-14 season.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Tickets for the East Region Challenge and 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.

CCA DIVISION II CANADIAN TIP-OFF CLASSIC RECAP
Daemen opened the 2023-24 at the Conference Commissioners Association Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic. Daemen opened the tournament with an 83-72 loss to Western Washington, before rebounding with a 71-66 victory over tournament host Simon Fraser. The Wildcats capped their stay in Western Canada with an 87-77 loss to Seattle Pacific. Graduate student Joey Atkins scored a career-high 23 points in the loss to Western Washington and was named to the all-tournament team after totaling 39 points, 15 rebounds, five steals and four blocks over the three games. Sophomore Justin Glover scored a career-high 16 points in the loss to Seattle Pacific and averaged a team-high 14.3 points during the tournament. Senior Dylan Fasoyiro shot 42-percent (5-12) from downtown and averaged 13.0 points. Senior Justin Hemphill recorded a double-double (14 pts, 11 rebs) in the loss to Seattle Pacific and averaged 11.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds off the bench.

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 180-76, 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 437-302 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 GRIFFINS
Chestnut Hill went 16-14 overall and 9-8 in the CACC last year. Head coach Andrew Radomicki is entering his first season with the Griffins. CHC returns one starter and just seven players from last year. Junior guard Noah Charles played in 29 of 30 games last year (17 starts) and averaged 6.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Sophomore forward Adan Angwafo and junior guard Lucas Dunn both averaged over 12 minutes a game off the bench last year. Redshirt sophomore Omari Salvi did not play last season, but averaged 11.0 point and 5.4 rebounds at the University of the Sciences in 2021-22. The Griffins brought in three true freshmen and one transfer. 6-foot-8 center Alejandro Cybak averaged 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds at South Puget Sound CC last year. The Griffins were picked sixth in the CACC South Division preseason coaches' poll.

SCOUTING THE LIGHTNING
Goldey-Beacom went 10-18 overall and 7-10 in the CACC last year. Head coach TJ Dekmari is entering his seventh season with the Lightning. GBC returns four starters and 10 players from last year. Junior forward Zayon Marsh started all 28 games last year earned second team All-CACC honors after averaging a team-high 18.7 points and 10.1 rebounds. Senior guard Damani Thomas drained a team-high 66 three-pointers last year and averaged 12.2 points and 4.3 rebounds. Senior guard Ayshion Centeno also returns after averaging 12.8 points last year. Senior Nazim Derry is back after missing last season. A first-team All-CACC pick in 2021-22, he averaged 20.1 points per game that year and drained 100 three-pointers. The Lightning welcome seven newcomers (two freshmen, five transfers). Guard Jadan Coleman played in 62 games (14 starts) over the past three seasons at Division I Tulane and averaged 4.5 points. The Lightning were picked second in the CACC South Division preseason coaches' poll.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to action Wednesday (Nov. 15) when it travels to Erie, Pa. to take on nationally-ranked Mercyhurst 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.

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