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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
A_Mason_ECC_Championship
Navraj Sandhu
Andrew Mason scored 18 points and was named to the all-tournament team
66
Daemen Daemen 20-8,12-4 ECC
72
Winner St. Thomas Aquinas STA 26-4,15-1 ECC
Daemen Daemen
20-8,12-4 ECC
66
Final
72
St. Thomas Aquinas STA
26-4,15-1 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen Daemen 31 35 66
St. Thomas Aquinas STA 31 41 72

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

Wildcats Suffer 72-66 Setback To St. Thomas Aquinas In ECC Tournament Title Game

Daemen Now Awaits A Possible At-Large Bid To The NCAA Division II Tournament

SPARKILL, N.Y. – Tournament Most Outstanding Player DeVante Jamison played 37 minutes and totaled 15 points, five assists and three steals to lead top-seeded and nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College to a 72-66 victory over second-seeded Daemen University this afternoon in the championship game of the 2023 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship tournament. The game was played at Alumni Hall on the campus of St. Thomas Aquinas College.

Daemen, which saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end, dropped to 20-8 on the year and now must await a possible at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Division II Tournament. STAC (26-4), which has now defeated Daemen in the last three ECC Tournament title games, earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Spartans have won four-straight and seven of the last eight ECC Tournament titles.

The Wildcats entered the game ranked eighth in the third and final NCAA East Region poll released earlier this week. STAC is ranked sixth in the region and No. 20 nationally by the National Basketball Coaches Association.

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Juniors Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) and Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) were named to the all-tournament team.
  • Fasoyiro, who scored 30 points in the semifinal win over Roberts Wesleyan yesterday, scored a game-high 21 points today and also added five rebounds.
  • Mason went a perfect 6-for-6 from three-point land today and finished with 18 points and five rebounds in 38 minutes of action.
  • Junior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.), the reigning ECC Defensive Player of the Week, connected on 4-of-7 shots and totaled 10 points and five boards in just 16 minutes off the bench.
  • Redshirt senior Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) added eight points, a team-high seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks, while senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) chipped in seven points. 
  • Freshman James Patterson scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Spartans.
GAME NOTES
  • STAC has now prevailed in 20 of the 30 all-time meetings between the two league powers.
  • Daemen entered the game as the ECC leaders in fewest points allowed per game (65.1), while STAC leads the league in points scored per game (85.7). It marked the third time this season the Wildcats have held the Spartans to 72 points or less.
  • STAC scored the first eight points of the game and the hosts later took a 13-3 lead after freshman Kyle Pullian drained a three-pointer with 14:48 left in the first half.
  • Daemen countered with a 22-12 run over the next 10 minutes and eventually tied the game at 25-25 after Hemphill made two free throws with 4:19 to play before halftime. The teams headed to the break knotted at 31-31.
  • The first eight minutes of the second half featured three lead changes and three ties and the Spartans held a 43-42 when the hosts put together a 13-2 run that gave them their largest lead of the game, 56-44, with just over six minutes to play.
  • Daemen scored the next five points and the Wildcats later cut the lead to three points, 61-58, following a layup by Atkins with 2:03 left.
  • STAC answered with two free throws by junior forward Luis Risquez and a layup following a steal by Jamison to regain a seven-point cushion and the Wildcats would come no closer than four points the rest of the way.
  • Mason entered the weekend ranked first among all NCAA Division II players in three-point field goal percentage and is now shooting 52-percent (82-for-159) from behind the arc on the year.
  • Daemen shot 48-percent (25-for-52) from the field overall and made 10-of-16 from three-point land. The Wildcats attempted just nine free throws and made six.
  • STAC shot 44-percent (28-of-64) from the field overall and was just 5-for-19 from three-point land. STAC entered the game averaging a league-high 9.8 three-pointers per game. The Spartans made 11-of-14 free throws.
  • STAC finished with a 36-32 edge in total rebounds and the hosts also held a 36-28 advantage in points in the paint. Daemen committed 18 turnovers and the Spartans converted those into a 19-8 edge in points off turnovers.
NEXT JUMP BALL
The entire 64-team field of the NCAA Division II Tournament will be announced tonight at 11 p.m.
 

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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