Atkins Earns Third ECC Defensive Player of the Week Honor

Fasoyiro Also Named To The ECC Weekly Honor Roll For The Third Time

12/4/2023 3:31:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. – Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) of the Daemen University men's basketball team has been honored by the East Coast Conference for his play last week. Atkins was selected the ECC Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week for games played Nov. 27-Dec. 3. The announcement of award winners was made via the league's weekly sport report, which was released this afternoon. It marks the third time in four weeks that Atkins has collected the award. It is also the sixth time in his career that Atkins has collected a weekly honor from the ECC. He was named the ECC Player of the Week once and ECC Defensive Player of the Week twice last year.

It marks the fourth-straight week that a player from Daemen has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week. Senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) collected the award last week.

Atkins led the Wildcats to a win over rival Roberts Wesleyan University in their lone game last week. The 6-foot-5 graduate student headed up a defensive effort that limited Roberts Wesleyan to 37-percent shooting (22-for-60) from the field and 68 total points, as Daemen opened conference play with an 86-68 win. Atkins flirted with a triple-double, as he finished with seven points, a team-high nine rebounds (seven defensive), a team-high three blocks, and a career-high nine assists.

Atkins was a first-team All-ECC selection last year and was recently named the 2023-24 ECC Preseason Player of the Year. He opened the 2023-24 season with a career-high 23 points in a loss to Western Washington University during the CCA Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic and has scored in double figures in six of Daemen's 10 games this season. He is averaging 12.3 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds. Among the ECC leaders he ranks seventh in rebounds per game (6.9), second in total blocks (13) and leads the league in steals (18). He recorded his 100th career block during a loss to Dominican University back on Nov. 18 and has registered at least one block in seven of 10 games this year.

Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) has also recognized for his play, as he was named to the weekly ECC honor roll--marking the third time in four weeks he has landed on the weekly honor roll. Fasoyiro dropped 30 points to lead the Wildcats to the win over Roberts Wesleyan. He established his career-highs for field goals attempted (18) and made (11) in a game and came just one point shy of his career high. Fasoyiro connected on 5-of-7 three-pointers and also contributed seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. He scored 18 of his points in the second half to help the Wildcats break open a four-point game at halftime. Fasoyiro has started all 10 games and is averaging a team-high 17.0 points. He has scored over 20 points in four of the last six games and also ranks second on the team in three-pointers (21) and steals (16).

Daemen has won six of its last seven games and stands at 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the ECC. The Wildcats are idle until this weekend when they travel to Molloy (Dec. 8) and Queens (Dec. 10) for ECC games.

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 University men's basketball program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.

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