Regionally-Ranked Wildcats Take On Rival Redhawks Wednesday

Daemen Looking To Complete Season Sweep Of Roberts Wesleyan

2/7/2023 11:41:00 AM

GAME #23
Daemen Wildcats (15-7, 8-4 ECC) vs. Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks (8-11, 6-5 ECC)
DATE: Wednesday, Feb. 8
TIME: 8 p.m.
LOCATION: Rochester, N.Y. | Voller Athletic Center
LIVE STATS: via RWU Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network

JUMP BALL
Daemen plays its final regular season road game when the Wildcats make the short trek to Roberts Wesleyan University for an East Coast Conference game. With four games left in the regular season Daemen sits in third place in the ECC standings behind league-leading Saint Thomas Aquinas (11-0) and second place Molloy (9-3).

LAST TIME OUT
Junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) drilled five three points and scored a team-high 17 points to lead Daemen to a 79-67 win over the District of Columbia this past Sunday at Lumsden Gymnasium Four players scored in double figures for the Wildcats. Mason, who entered the game ranked second among ECC players in three-point field goal percentage, connected on his first five three-pointers today and finished 5-of-6 from downtown overall. He also contributed four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Junior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) scored in double figures for the ninth-straight game and totaled 16 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Junior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) played 23 minutes off the bench and registered his second double-double of the season. He connected on 5-of-9 shots and totaled 12 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists, seven blocks and two steals. His seven blocks is the most in a game by a player in the ECC this season. Senior Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) played a team-high 33 minutes and totaled nine points, six rebounds and five assists.

CLOSE CALLS
12 of Daemen's 22 games have been decided by 10 points or less and the Wildcats are 6-6 in those contests. The Wildcats lost at the final buzzer against nationally-ranked Mercyhurst (62-61) and opened ECC play with tight losses to Molloy (72-69) and Queens (70-65). The Wildcats also suffered a 72-70 loss at nationally-ranked Saint Thomas Aquinas and a 66-60 loss at regionally-ranked Pace. Daemen has come out on the winning end in five of its last six close games, defeating regionally-ranked Franklin Pierce 59-51, posting a 79-75 win at Staten Island, defeating D'Youville 56-53, downing UDC 80-70 and defeating Queens 82-72 last Sunday.

SHARP SHOOTERS
Daemen ranks second among ECC teams in field goal percentage (.458) and has shot 50-percent or better from the field nine times this season. The Wildcats are 8-1 this year when they shoot 50-percent or better from the field.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen leads the ECC in both team defense (65.9 papg) and field goal percentage defense (.407). The Wildcats have held 13 of their 22 opponents to less than 70 points and are 11-2 overall this season when they hold their opponent under 70 points.

150TH NCAA DIVISION II WIN
The win over District of Columbia on Jan. 21 was Daemen's 150th win as a NCAA Division II member. Since Daemen gained full NCAA status prior to the 2015-16 season, the Wildcats have posted a 153-63 record for a .708 winning percentage.

HOME SWEET HOME
Daemen will play three of its final four regular season games at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats are 9-3 this season and 89-18 (.830) at home during Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present).

RETURN OF THE MAC
Mike MacDonald returns for his ninth season on Daemen's bench and his 26^th overall as a collegiate head coach. The veteran mentor has led Daemen to a 174-73 (.704) record since taking the reins in 2014. The Wildcats rank second in victories among all East Coast Conference and New York State Division II teams in that span. 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. Daemen's 81-72 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 8, 2021 was the 400th of his career.

NEW LOOK WILDCATS
Daemen returns 10 players from last year and welcomes six freshmen and three transfers. The Wildcats finished 20-9 overall and 16-2 in the ECC last year. The Wildcats suffered a 59-48 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the championship game of the ECC Tournament and were denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Daemen was looking to make its fourth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Daemen must overcome the loss of center Andrew Sischo, a three-time All-America selection who closed out his career as the ECC's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He averaged 22.9 points and a Division II leading 13.0 rebounds per game last year. Not to be overlooked, guard Sean Fasoyiro was also lost to graduation. Fasoyiro ranked second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) last year and collected All-ECC honors in each of his two seasons at Daemen. Shooting guard Kyle Harris, who led the team in three-point field goals (58) last year, was also lost to graduation.

MR. CONSISTENT
Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in 19 of the 22 games. He scored a career-high 20 points in a loss to Slippery Rock and is averaging 12.2 points (third on the team). He also ranks second on the team in three-pointers made (35) and second among the ECC leaders in free throw percentage (59-69/.855). He is shooting 86.8-percent (99-114) from the charity stripe over his collegiate career.

MINUTE MAN
Senior Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) has played at least 30 minutes in nine of the last 10 games and 17 of the 22 games this season. He scored a season-high 14 points in the loss to Molloy on Dec. 2 and is averaging 6.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and a team-high 3.5 assists per game. He recorded his 200th career assist during the win over Queens on Jan. 29.

BREAKOUT YEAR FOR ATKINS
Redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) is enjoying the most productive season of his collegiate career. After totaling just 131 points and 89 rebounds over his first two seasons (one at Jefferson, one at Daemen), he has totaled 275 points and 133 rebounds this year. He totaled a career-high 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds en route to his first career double-double during a loss to Queens on Dec. 4. The MVP of the season-opening East Region Challenge, he ranks second on the team in both scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg). He ranks third in the ECC in blocks (55) and has become the fifth player in program history to record 50 or more blocks in a season. He is a one time ECC Player of the Week selection and two time ECC Defensive Player of the Week honoree.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE
Junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) connected on 7-of-9 three-pointers and scored a season-high 22 points in the win over Roberts Wesleyan last month. It marked the second time this season he has made seven three-pointers in a game (at St. Thomas Aquinas on Dec. 9). The seven three-pointers tied Daemen's NCAA-era (2015-present) record for three-pointers in a game originally set by current assistant coach Jeff Redband. Redband made seven three-pointers in a game four times during his career, most recently on Feb. 7, 2020 during a loss at Bridgeport. Mason leads the team in minutes played per game (31.5) and is averaging 10.5 points. He ranks second among the ECC leaders in three-pointers made (59) and third among all NCAA Division II players in three-point field goal percentage (59-123/.480). He was named the ECC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Jan. 17.

SUDDEN IMPACT
Junior transfer Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) has made immediate contributions in his first season with the Wildcats. Slowed by a preseason injury early in the year, he has started the last 14 games and the Wildcats are 11-3 with him in the starting lineup. He has scored in double figures in each of the last eight games and is averaging 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He also ranks second in on the team in steals (32). He scored a career-high 31 points in the win over Staten Island on Jan. 6 and netted 23 points in the win over UDC on Jan. 21.

SOLID SIXTH MAN
Junior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) has proven to be a solid sixth man. Sidelined by injury most of his first two seasons, he has played in 21 of 22 games this season and is averaging 18.4 minutes off the bench. He scored a career-high 16 points in the win over Cheyney and totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds during a win over Alliance en route to his first career double-double. He equaled his career-high for points (16) and established a new career-high for rebounds (14), assists (6) and blocks (4) in the win over Roberts Wesleyan last month. He leads the team in offensive rebounds (56) and total rebounds per game (6.5). He was recently named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week.

HEY ROOKIE
Freshman guard Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) had a successful collegiate debut, as he was also named to the all-tournament team following the season-opening East Region Challenge. He started both games and averaged 10.0 points and 25.5 minutes per game. He drilled three three-pointers and scored 15 points in the win over regionally-ranked Saint Anselm. Glover has started seven games and is averaging 5.3 points per game. He missed five games due to injury, but returned to action during the recent win at D'Youville.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
The Daemen program has been built on sustained success, winning at least 19 games in 10 of the last 11 seasons. That span encompasses the end of Daemen's NAIA era, its NCAA transition period and the first seven seasons of full NCAA Division II membership. The Wildcats have won 72% of their contests, going 227-90 in that span.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Coach MacDonald's son Nick is a senior guard at Daemen. He transferred to Daemen after playing his first two seasons at Division I Niagara. Junior guard Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) is the younger brother of Sean Fasoyiro, who played the last two seasons at Daemen and earned all-conference honors each year. Daemen's roster also includes brothers Payton and Preston Shumpert (Syracuse, N,.Y.). Their father (Preston) played collegiately at Syracuse University from 1998 to 2002.

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 posted a 20-9 record last year, but was denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

POLL POSITION
Daemen was voted first in the ECC preseason coaches' poll and was also receiving votes in the preseason NABC Division II poll. The Wildcats are ranked eight in the 12th D2SIDA East Region poll released Feb. 6.

SCOUTING ROBERTS WESLEYAN
Roberts Wesleyan returns 10 players and two starters from last year's team that went 12-13 overall and 9-9 in the ECC. The Redhawks posted a 90-72 win over Queeens in the opening round of 2022 ECC Tournament, before suffering an 84-64 loss to top-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas in the semifinals. Mark Saladzius enters his fourth full season as head coach. He took over as the interim head coach in October 2018 following the retirement of longtime head coach Rob McCoy and was named the 16th head coach in the program's history in February 2019. The Redhawks opened the 2022-23 season with five straight losses, but are 8-6 over their last 14 games. The Redhawks suffered a 95-83 loss to league-leading Saint Thomas Aquinas last Wednesday and posted an 84-83 win over Mercy this past Saturday. Veteran Ja'Kair Sanchez and newcomer Malik Brooks have paced the Redhawks thus far. Sanchez, a junior guard who led the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) last year, scored 22 points in the win over Mercy this past weekend and is averaging a team-high 13.0 points. He also ranks second on the team in rebounds per game (6.3) and leads the team in assists per game (3.7) and steals (30). Brooks started his collegiate career playing football at Monmouth (2019-20) before transferring to Canisius to play basketball in 2020-21. He has started all 16 games for the Redhawks this season and is averaging 12.5 points. Additional production has come from senior guard Abou Gbane (11.1 ppg), graduate student Rian Carter (10.4 ppg, 28 3pt FGs) and Le Moyne College transfer Nicholas Carter (10.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg). Roberts Wesleyan was picked fifth in the ECC preseason coaches' poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. ROBERTS WESLEYAN
Series Record: Daemen, 47-12
At Daemen: Daemen, 28-2
At RWU, Daemen, 19-9
Neutral Site: RWU, 1-0
Last Year: Daemen 81, RWU 72 | Dec. 8, 2021 | Amherst, N.Y. / Daemen 101, RWU 71 | Feb. 2, 2022 | Rochester, N.Y.
This Year: Daemen 82, RWU 65 | Jan. 11, 2023 | Amherst, N.Y.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is idle until Feb. 17 when the Wildcats host nationally-ranked and league leading Saint Thomas Aquinas College.

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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