Geoff M Schneider

Wildcats Host Franklin Pierce Tuesday Afternoon

12/17/2023 12:38:00 PM

JUMP BALL
Daemen hosts the Raven of Franklin Pierce University in a non-conference game.

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 was also receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II preseason poll.

POLL POSITION
Daemen is ranked eighth in the D2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Region poll released Monday, Dec. 18.

THE SEASON SO FAR
Daemen (8-4, 2-1 ECC) has featured a balanced scoring attack and solid defense thus far. All five of Daemen's starters are averaging in double figures. Four different players have led the team in scoring so far this season. Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) has led the team in points seven times this season and was named the MVP of the East Region Challenge hosted by Daemen after scoring 21 points in a 75-67 win over Goldey-Beacom. He has scored over 20 points in five of the last eight games and dropped 30 points in an 86-68 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 2. He is averaging a team-high 17.2 points and ranks second on the team in three-pointers (26) and steals (20). Sophomore Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games and is averaging 13.5 points and 2.8 assists. Graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.), the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, is averaging 12.3 points and and a team-high 8.1 rebounds. A three-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection this year, he leads the ECC in blocks (22) and ranks second in steals (21). Senior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) has reached double figures in points the eight of the last nine games and is averaging 10.8 points with a team-high 27 three-pointers. Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) is contributing 10.6 points per game, while sixth man Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) is producing 8.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest.

WILDCATS SPLIT WEEKEND TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY
Daemen went 1-1 during a trip downstate the weekend of Dec. 8-10. The Wildcats outlasted Molloy, 74-66, before suffering an 81-79 loss to Queens in overtime. It was Daemen's first OT game since the 2021-22 season. Joey Atkins totaled 17 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Molloy, while Dylan Fasoyiro netted 25 points in the loss to Queens.

THERE'S NO I IN TEAM
Daemen features a balanced attack with six players averaging between 8.4 and 17.2 points per game. The Wildcats have had eight games where four players have scored in double figures and five players have reached double digits in points four times. A season-high six players scored in double figures during their win at Clarion on Nov. 26.

SHARP SHOOTERS
Daemen ranks first among ECC teams in field goal percentage (.478) and has shot over 45-percent from the field in eight of its 12 games. The Wildcats are 5-0 this year when they shoot 50-percent or better from the field.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has limited seven of its 12 opponents to less than 70 points and leads the ECC in team defense, allowing just 70.3 points per game. The Wildcats also rank second in the ECC in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 42-percent from the field. Daemen has produced the ECC Defensive Player of the Week in four of the first five weeks of the season. Joey Atkins earned the honor for the third time on Dec. 4 Justin Hemphill has also been selected.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Wildcats have won their last 13 home games dating back to last season and are 96-18 (.842) at home during Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). Daemen's 13-game home winning streak is the longest in the East Region and the seventh longest among all Division II schools.

NOTABLE
Joey Atkins recorded his 100th career block during a loss to Dominican on Nov. 18. Dylan Fasoyiro scored his 500th career point during the win over Slippery Rock. Andrew Mason has become the seventh player in program history to reach 200 career three-pointers. He recorded hos 200th during the win over Molloy. Nick MacDonald is two three pointers shy of 150 for his career.

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 187-78, 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 444-304 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 Hartford, 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 RAVENS
Franklin Pierce (3-6, 1-5 NE10) is located in Rindge, N.H. and is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. The Ravens went 17-12 overall and 11-9 in NE-10 play last year. Mike Ruane is entering his first season as head coach, but is very familiar with the region. Ruane spent 22 seasons (2000-2022) at the University of Bridgeport where he led the Purple Knights to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and four ECC Tournament Championships. The Ravens will be playing their first game since posting an 83-69 over then regionally-ranked Caldwell on Dec. 9. FPU lost three of its top four scorers from last season and returns two starters and 11 players overall. Junior Sean Trumper returns after averaging 11.2 points and 5.7 rebounds and earning a spot on the NE-10 All-Defensive Team last year. He scored 19 points in an 87-80 win over American International on Dec. 2 and leads the team in scoring (18.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg) so far this season. Junior guard Jarnel Guzman returns after starting 18 games and averaging 7.9 points and 3.1 assists last year. He is contributing 12 points per game with a team-high 20 three-pointers this season. Sophomore Ugo Nwachukwu is having a break out season after seeing limited playing time as a freshman. He erupted for 37 points and 12 rebounds in the win over AIC and is averaging 14.6 points and 6.4 rebounds. Sophomore guard RJ Delahaye has started all nine games and is contributing 10.6 points with a team-high 28 assists and 20 steals. Franklin Pierce was picked ninth in the NE-10 preseason coaches' poll.

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's tilt will mark just the third all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Ravens. The teams have split their previous two meetings. FPU posted an 83-80 win over Daemen in a game played at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo during the 2021-22 season. Daemen answered with a 59-51 win at FPU last year. Andrew Mason (15 pts) and Joey Atkins (14 pts) paced the Wildcats, while Sean Trumper (12 pts) and Jarnel Guzman (11 pts) led the Ravens.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is idle until Dec. 31 when the Wildcats travel to Manchester, N.H. to take on Saint Anselm College in a non-conference game.

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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