Wildcats And Spartans Square Off For ECC Tournament Crown Sunday

Third-Straight Year Daemen and STAC Have Played For The Title

3/4/2023 8:29:00 PM

GAME #28
#2 Seed Daemen Wildcats (20-7) vs. #1 St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans (25-4)
DATE: Sunday, March 5
TIME: 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Sparkill, N.Y. | Alumni Hall
LIVE STATS: via East Coast Conference / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network / TICKETS: via East Coast Conference

JUMP BALL
Second-seeded Daemen takes on top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas in the championship game of the 2023 ECC Men's Basketball Championship.

DAEMEN IN THE ECC TOURNAMENT
Daemen is making its eighth consecutive ECC tournament appearance and seeking its first championship. The Wildcats are two-time ECC regular season champions (2013-14 & 2018-19) and have advanced to the semifinal round in all eight of their ECC tournament berths. Daemen will be playing in the tournament's final for the fourth time. The Wildcats fell to STAC in 2016, 2021 and 2022.

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE
Daemen leads the ECC in team defense, allowing just 65.1 points per game and St. Thomas Aquinas is averaging a league-high 85.7 points per game. Daemen held the Spartans to a season low 57 points during an 83-57 win at Lumsden Gymnasium two weeks ago..

RED HOT WILDCATS
Daemen enters the championship game riding an eight game winning streak and winners of 17 of its last 19 games. The Wildcats are shooting 52-percent (242-of-462) from the field overall and 46-percent (76-of-166) from three-point land during their current eight game winning. Daemen is averaging 82.9 points and outscoring its opponents by an average of 19 points during the eight-game streak.

SHARP SHOOTERS
Daemen ranks first among ECC teams in field goal percentage (.473) and has shot 50-percent or better from the field 12 times this season. The Wildcats are 11-1 this year when they shoot 50-percent or better from the field. Daemen shot a season-high 65-percent (32-49) in a recent 87-53 win over St. Thomas Aquinas and made 15-of-22 three-pointers during a recent win over Roberts Wesleyan.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen leads the ECC in both team defense (65.1 papg) and field goal percentage defense (.401). The Wildcats have held 17 of their 27 opponents to less than 70 points and are 15-2 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 158-63 record for a .715 winning percentage.

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 179-73 (.710) record since taking the reins in 2014. He coached his 250th game at Daemen last Sunday vs. Mercy. 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 24 of the 27 games. He scored a career-high 20 points in a loss to Slippery Rock and ranks second on the team in points per game (12.6). He also ranks second on the team in three-pointers made (44) and fourth among the ECC leaders in free throw percentage (70-86/.814). He transferred to Daemen last year after playing his first two seasons at Division I Niagara. He has played in 108 games during his collegiate career and is shooting 85.9-percent (134-156) from the charity stripe over his collegiate career.

MINUTE MAN
Senior Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) has played at least 30 minutes in 13 of the last 15 games and 21 of the 27 games this season. He scored a season-high 14 points in the loss to Molloy on Dec. 2 and is averaging 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds. He is averaging 31.7 minutes and a team-high 3.5 assists per game. He recorded his 200th career assist during the win over Queens on Jan. 29 and leads the ECC in assist/turnover ratio (2.5).

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 325 points and 167 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 third on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.2 rpg). He ranks third in blocks (62) and eighth in steals (41) among the ECC leaders 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 on Jan. 11. 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 is averaging a team-high 31.8 minutes and 10.7 points per game. He ranks second among the ECC leaders in three-pointers made (76) and first among all NCAA Division II players in three-point field goal percentage (76-153/.497). He is shooting 48-percent (170-for-357) from downtown over this three-year career. 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 after transferring from Ashland. Slowed by a preseason injury early in the year, he has started the last 20 games and the Wildcats are 17-3 with him in the starting lineup. He has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 14 games and is averaging a team-high 13.1 points. He is also contributing 5.5 rebounds per game and ranks second in on the team in steals (39). He scored a career-high 31 points in the win over Staten Island on Jan. 6 and netted 30 points in the ECC Tournament semifinal win over Roberts Wesleyan yesterday.

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 26 of 27 games this season and is averaging 18.6 minutes off the bench. He made 10-of-14 shots and scored a career-high 24 points in 23 minutes in the win over D'Youville last weekend and has also scored 21 points (9-of-9 from the field) and scored 21 points in just 21 minutes in the win over St. Thomas Aquinas two weeks ago. He has posted three double-doubles on the year and contributed 16 points and established a new career-high for rebounds (14), assists (6) and blocks (4) in a win over Roberts Wesleyan on Jan. 11. He leads the team in offensive rebounds (66) and total rebounds per game (6.5) and ranks first among all ECC players in field goal percentage (96-156/.615). He was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the second-straight week and third time this season this past Monday.

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 5.0 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 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 247-97 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 eighth in the final of three NCAA East Region poll released this past Wednesday.

SCOUTING ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
St. Thomas Aquinas returns just five players from last year's team that went 28-5 overall and 17-1 in the ECC. The Spartans claimed their third-straight ECC Tournament title last year following a 59-48 victory over Daemen in the title game. The win also earned the Spartans their seventh-straight trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament. STAC advanced to the NCAA Tournament East Regional championship game last year, where it dropped an 82-75 decision to host Bentley. Matt Capell, a long-time assistant coach at STAC, is in his first season as head coach. The Spartans are ranked 20th in the NABC Division II poll and 19th D2SIDA Division II poll. The Spartans have won 10 of their first 11 games. STAC leads the ECC in three-pointers made per game (9.8) and five players have made at least 20 three-pointers on the year. Four starters are averaging over 10 points per game. Redshirt junior DeVante Jamison leads the team in scoring (14.7 ppg), assists (5.9 apg) and steals (58). Freshman James Patterson is a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and is averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds. Junior Jamal Barnes and redshirt senior Antonio Vendola both rank among the top five in the ECC in three-pointers made. Barnes has made a league-high 93 triples and is averaging 12.2 points. Vendola has made 60 three-pointers and is contributing 10.8 points per game. Freshman Kyle Pulliam has been named ECC Rookie of the Week three of the last four weeks. He made six three-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points in a win over Mercy two weeks ago. STAC was picked second in the ECC preseason coaches' poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. STAC
Series Record: STAC, 19-10
At Daemen: STAC, 6-5
At STAC, STAC, 9-4
At Neutral Site: STAC, 4-1
ECC Tournament: STAC, 6-0
This Year: STAC 72 Daemen 70 | Dec. 9, 2022 | at Sparkill, N.Y. / Daemen 83, STAC 57 | Feb. 17, 2013 | Amherst, N.Y.

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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