AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen University is the No. 8 team in the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings for men's basketball, which were released this afternoon. It marks the third and final poll that will be released by the Regional Advisory Committee. The NCAA announces 10-team rankings for each of the eight regions across the country for three successive weeks leading up to the NCAA Championship selection announcement, which will be made this year on Sunday, March 5 at 11 p.m.
The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The eight-team NCAA Championships East Regional —one of eight regional tournaments that comprise the 64-team NCAA tournament—will consist of three automatic berths and five at-large selections, and it takes place the second weekend of March at a site that is yet to be determined.
Under the guidance of ninth-year head coach Mike MacDonald, the Wildcats posted a 19-7 overall record during the regular season and finished second in the East Coast Conference with a 12-4 league record. Daemen owns a 3-2 mark against teams included in this week's regional rankings—having defeated No. 2 Saint Anselm, No. 9 Franklin Pierce and No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas and having lost to No. 5 Pace University and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Daemen extended its winning streak to seven games after closing the regular season with an 84-73 win over D'Youville University this past Saturday. at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats have won 16 of their last 18 games and are seeded second in the ECC Championship tournament. The Wildcats feature a balanced attack with four starters averaging in double figures. Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in 23 of 26 games and is averaging a team-high 12.7 points. Junior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) has made an immediate impact in his first season with the Wildcats and is averaging 12.4 points and 5.5 rebounds. Junior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) closed out the regular season ranked second nationally in three-point field goal percentage at 51-percent (74-146). Redshirt senior Joey Atkins ( Watervliet, N.Y.) is contributing 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and ranks seventh nationally in total blocks (59).
Daemen has earned a first round bye in the ECC Tournament and will face either third-seeded Molloy University or sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan University in the tournament semifinals Saturday. The semifinals and championship game are being hosted by top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas.
Bentley (21-5) of the Northeast-10 sits atop the NCAA Regional poll, while Saint Anselm (20-7), Southern New Hampshire (20-7), New Haven (19-9) and Pace (20-10) round out the top five. The bottom five consists of St. Thomas Aquinas (24-4), Dominican (20-7), Daemen, Franklin Pierce (17-12) and Southern Connecticut (18-12).
Daemen 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.
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