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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MBBCelebrate_2022-23
Geoff Schneider
57
St. Thomas Aquinas STA 21-4,12-1 ECC
83
Winner Daemen Daemen 17-7,10-4 ECC
St. Thomas Aquinas STA
21-4,12-1 ECC
57
Final
83
Daemen Daemen
17-7,10-4 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
St. Thomas Aquinas STA 28 29 57
Daemen Daemen 43 40 83

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

Wildcats Roll To 83-57 Win Over Nationally-Ranked Spartans

Hemphill Leads The Way With A Career-High 21 Points

AMHERST, N.Y. – Junior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Daemen University men's basketball team to an 83-57 victory over nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College this evening at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus.

Daemen, which has won 14 of its last 16 games, improved to 17-7 overall and 10-4 in the East Coast Conference. STAC (21-4, 12-1), which entered the game ranked No. 16 in both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) polls, saw its six-game winning streak come to an end the suffered its first conference loss of the year. The 26 points is the largest margin of victory for Daemen over STAC in the all-time history between the two teams.

The win moved the Wildcats into a tie for second place in the league standings with Molloy.

The Wildcats entered the game ranked ninth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll.

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Five players scored in double figures for the Wildcats.
  • Hemphill scored 21 points in 21 minutes off the bench. The ECC leader in field goal percentage, he was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and also contributed three assists and three steals.
  • Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) went 6-of-8 from the field and totaled 16 points.
  • Junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) went 5-of-8 from downtown and totaled 15 points and four assists. It marks the third-straight game he has made five triples in a game. Mason entered the game ranked third among all NCAA Division II players in three-point field goal percentage and is now shooting 50-percent (69-for-138) from behind the arc on the year.
  • Redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) played just 20 minutes due to foul trouble, but still managed to contribute 12 points and three steals.
  • Junior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) scored in double figures for the 11th-straight game and totaled 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
  • Senior Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) played 31 minutes and totaled seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
  • Redshirt junior guard DeVante Jamison paced the Spartans with 18 points, three assists and three steals.
GAME NOTES
  • STAC had prevailed in the previous three meetings between the two league powers. The Spartans maintain a 19-10 advantage in the all-time series.
  • STAC entered the game averaging a league-high 86.3 points per game, while Daemen was the league leader in fewest points allowed per game (65.9). The 57 points was the fewest the Spartans have scored in a game this season.
  • Daemen has now limited 15 of its 24 opponents to less than 70 points. The Wildcats are 13-2 this season when they limit their opponent to less than 70 points.
  • It marked the third time in the past five games that Daemen has had five players finish in double figures.
  • Daemen has won five-straight games and has finished with at least four players in double figures in all five games.
  • Daemen held 15-12 lead nine minutes into the game when the Wildcats scored 12 unanswered points. A layup by Hemphill with 6:44 left before halftime capped the run and gave the hosts a 27-12 lead.
  • Daemen later took a 15-point lead (34-19) following a dunk by Hemphill with 3:57 left in the half and the Wildcats would take a 43-28 lead into intermission.
  • The Daemen lead was 20 points, 52-32, five minutes into the second half, and the hosts later took a 26-point lead, 63-37, following a three-pointer by Mason with 9:10 to play.
  • The Daemen lead would peak at 31 points, 79-48, after MacDonald scored with just over three minutes to play and a thunderous dunk by Hemphill with a minute left capped the evening off for the Wildcats.
  • Daemen shot an efficient 83-percent (15-for-18) from the field in the second half and finished a season high 65-percent (32-for-49) from the field overall. It is the second-straight game the Wildcats have shot over 60-pecernt from the field. The Wildcats went 9-for-17 from three-point land and made 10-of-12 free throws.
  • STAC connected on just 9-of-32 (28%) of its shots in the second half and finished just 18-for-57 (32%) from the field overall. STAC, which entered the game averaging a league-high 9.8 three-pointers a game, shot just 5-of-25 from downtown. The Spartans made 16-of-24 free throws.
  • Daemen finished with a 36-27 edge in total rebounds and the Wildcats also held a 42-20 advantage in points in the paint.
  • The Spartans forced 24 turnovers, but Daemen finished with a 23-20 advantage in points off turnovers.
NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen returns to action Sunday when it hosts Mercy College in an ECC 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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