Geoff Schneider

Wildcats Host Nationally Ranked Post Wednesday; Cheyney Saturday

1/2/2024 12:33:00 PM

JUMP BALL
Daemen closes out its non-conference schedule by hosting nationally-ranked Post University Wednesday and Cheyney University Saturday.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Tickets for all 2023-24 Daemen home games are on sale through Daemen's online ticketing portal. Lock in your tickets before arriving at Lumsden Gym. Please note, all tickets must be purchased online. No cash sales will be available at Lumsden Gym.

THE SEASON AHEAD
The Wildcats return several key players and a total of 14 players from their 2022-23 team which went 20-8 overall and 12-4 in the East Coast Conference. The Wildcats advanced to the ECC Tournament championship game, where they suffered a 72-66 loss to top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas College. Daemen was picked second in the ECC preseason coaches' poll and was also receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II preseason poll.

POLL POSITION
Daemen is ranked eighth in the D2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Region poll released Monday, Dec. 18.

THE SEASON SO FAR
Daemen (10-4, 2-1 ECC) has featured a balanced scoring attack and solid defense thus far. Six players are averaging in double figures and the Wildcats lead the East Coast Conference in fewest points allowed per game (73.3). Six different players have led the team in scoring so far this season. Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) has led the team in points seven times and has scored over 20 points in six of the last 10 games, He dropped 30 points in an 86-68 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 2 and is averaging a team-high 16.8 points and ranks second on the team in three-pointers (28) and steals (18). Sophomore Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) has scored in double figures in 12 of 13 games and is averaging 14.3 points and 3.3 assists. Graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.), the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, is averaging 11.2 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds. A three-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection this year, he is tied for first in the ECC in blocks (23) and ranks second in steals (22). Senior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) has reached double figures in points in nine of the last 10 games and is averaging 11.9 points with a team-high 38 three-pointers. He set a Daemen NCAA-era (2015-present) record for three-pointers in a game (8) and scored a career-high 26 points in a 93-73 win over Franklin Pierce on Dec. 19. Senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) is contributing 10.6 points per game and rankss 11th nationally in free throw percentage (.922). Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) established career-highs for points (27) and rebounds (16) in a double OT win at Saint Anselm this past weekend is producing 10.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest.

WILDCATS CAP 2023 WITH DOUBLE OT WIN AT SAINT ANSELM
Talk about closing out 2023 with a bang. Daemen outlasted Saint Anselm College, 112-109, in double overtime this past Sunday in a non-conference game played at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium on the Saint Anselm campus. It marked the first time since the 2017-18 season that Daemen has played in a game that went to double overtime. The Wildcats posted a 102-98 win over Molloy at Lumsden Gymnasium the last time they went to double overtime on Feb. 16, 2018. Sophomore Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) hit a clutch three-pointer at the end of regulation to force the extra time and senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to lead a balanced Daemen attack.

THERE'S NO I IN TEAM
Daemen features a balanced attack with six players averaging between 10.0 and 16.8 points per game. The Wildcats have had 10 games where four players have scored in double figures and five players have reached double digits in points six times. A season-high six players scored in double figures during their win at Clarion on Nov. 26 and their double OT win at Saint Anselm on Dec. 31.

SHARP SHOOTERS
Daemen ranks first among ECC teams in field goal percentage (.478) and has shot over 45-percent from the field in nine of its 14 games. The Wildcats are 6-0 this year when they shoot 50-percent or better from the field.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has limited seven of its 14 opponents to less than 70 points and leads the ECC in team defense, allowing just 73.3 points per game. The Wildcats also rank first in the ECC in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 43-percent from the field. Daemen has produced the ECC Defensive Player of the Week four times this season. Joey Atkins earned the honor for the third time on Dec. 4. Justin Hemphill also collected the honor earlier this year.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Wildcats are 5-0 at home this season and have won their last 14 home games dating back to last season. They are 97-18 (.843) at home during Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). Daemen's 14-game home winning streak is the longest in the East Region and the fifth longest among all Division II schools. Daemen has shot 53-percent from the field overall and 46-percent (43-95) from downtown during its five home games this season. The have won by at least 18 points in four of their five homes games and have averaged 85.0 points at home.

NOTABLE
Joey Atkins recorded his 100th career block during a loss to Dominican on Nov. 18. Dylan Fasoyiro scored his 500th career point during the win over Slippery Rock. Andrew Mason has become the seventh player in program history to reach 200 career three-pointers. He recorded hos 200th during the win over Molloy and ranks fifth in career three-pointers at Daemen with 214. Nick MacDonald recorded his 150th career three-pointer during the win over Saint Anselm.

RETURN OF THE MAC
Head coach Mike MacDonald returns for his 10th season on Daemen's bench and his 27^th overall as a collegiate head coach. Daemen has posted at least 20 wins in five of the last six seasons (Daemen only played 16 games during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season) and MacDonald has led the Wildcats to a record of 189-78, three NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and the 2021 NCAA Division II East Region title. 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. His overall career record stands at 446-304 and Daemen's 81-72 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Dec. 8, 2021 was the 400th of his career.

FAMILIAR FACES
All-ECC selections Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.), Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.), Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) and Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) all return in 2023-24. Atkins earned first-team All-ECC honors in his first season as a starter last year after averaging 11.9 points and 6.2 rebounds. He also ranked eighth among all Division II players in blocks (65). Fasoyiro averaged a team-high 13.4 points in his first season with the team, while MacDonald contributed 12.4 points. Mason averaged 10.9 points and led all three NCAA divisions in three-point field goal percentage (.516) last year. Veteran point guard Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.), who started all 28 games last year and averaged 32 minutes a game, was set to return but suffered a preseason injury. Senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.), a 6-foot-6 forward, is coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 9.0 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds off the bench. Sophomore guard Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) is set to step into the starting lineup following the loss of Salzberg. Glover played in 23 games (seven starts) as a freshman and averaged 4.9 points and 1.8 assists. Ayden Harrison (Clifton Park, N.Y.), Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) and Jackson Kulik (Webster, N.Y.) also join the mix after red shirting their freshman season last year.

NEWCOMERS
Three newcomers join the fold in 2023-24. Redshirt sophomore guard Jarius Jones (Gahanna, Ohio) spent the past two years at Ohio Dominican University. Freshmen Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) and Ryan Heath (Rochester, N.Y.) both earned New York State Class A all-state honors last winter and Philipkoski was also honored as the New York State Class A Player of the Year.

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 247-98 in that span. Looking more recently, Daemen is 120-45 since the start of the 2017-18 season (.730 winning percentage).

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 has posted 20 wins this last two seasons, but was denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament each year.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Post (10-1, 2-0 CACC) is located in Waterbury, Conn. and is a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Eagles have won five straight games and are ranked nationally by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the D2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC). Eight of their 11 games have been decided by five points or less (including their last five) and the Eagles are 8-0 in those games. Post went 15-13 (10-8 CACC) and lost in the opening round of the CACC Tournament last year. Head coach Marc Kuntz is in his eighth season as head coach and he returns just seven players and one starter from last season. Junior college transfers Deng Deang (Southeastern Iowa JC), Bol Akot (Moberly Area CC) and Robert Sanders (Iowa Western CC) have made immediate contributions. Deang has scored over 20 points five times this season and is averaging a team-high 17.9 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds. Akot, who started his career at Division I Quinnipiac, scored 41 points in a 109-107 OT win at nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas and is averaging 17.4 points and 3.4 assists. Sanders scored 17 points in a 74-73 win over Bentley and is averaging 11.2 points with a team-high 22 three-pointers. Freshman guard Ta'Quan Williams is averaging 24.5 minutes and 9.6 points off the bench. The Eagles were picked fourth in the CACC North preseason coaches' poll.

SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday's game will mark just the second all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Eagles and the first since the 2014-15. The teams first met during the 2014 ECC-CACC Challenge at Daemen and the Wildcats posted an 88-80 victory. Gerald Beverly led the way with 23 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

SCOUTING THE WOLVES
Cheyney (1-10) is located an hour outside of Philadelphia and competes as an independent. The Wolves previously competed at the NCAA Division II level as a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, but left the PSAC and the NCAA prior to the 2018-19 academic year. Cheyney returns just one player from last year's team that finished 1-10. Keith Johnson is in his first season as head coach. The Wolves last played on Dec. 16 when they dropped to 1-10 following an 83-69 loss to Newport News Apprentice. Cheyney also suffered losses to NCAA Division II East Region affiliates Queens (94-50), Bridgeport (118-72) and Holy Family (98-66) earlier this year. Cheyney's lone win came on Dec. 6 at Five Towns College (70-66). Freshman guard Chimeziri Okeoma totaled 15 points and six assists in the loss to Newport News and netted 16 points in the losses to Queens and Bridgeport. Junior swingman Lavion Morales scored a team-high 16 points in the loss to Newport News and scored 12 points in the loss to Holy Family. Junior G/F Nathan Pettus, Jr. is the lone returner from last year.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's tilt will mark just the second all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Wolves. The teams met for the first time ever last year at Lumsden Gym and the Wildcats rolled to a 76-53 victory. Justin Hemphill paced a balanced attack with 16 points and eight rebounds.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to East Coast Conference play next weekend when the Wildcats host the College of Staten Island (Jan. 12) and the District of Columbia (Jan. 14).

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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