MacDonald Earns ECC Player of the Week Honors

1/8/2024 3:34:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. – Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) of the Daemen University men's basketball team has been honored by the East Coast Conference for his play in recent games. MacDonald was selected as the ECC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for games played between Jan. 1-7. The announcement of award winners was made via the league's weekly sport report, which was released this afternoon.

It marks the first time in his career that MacDonald has collected a weekly honor from the ECC. It also marks the eighth time this season a Daemen player has been selected for a major weekly award. Graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) is a four-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week, while senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) is a one-time Player of the Week and two-time Defensive Player of the Week honoree.

MacDonald poured in 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field with a pair of three-pointers to lead Daemen to a 71-55 win over 18th-ranked Post. The fifth-year guard scored 14 of his career-high 22 points in the second half to help the Wildcats outscore post 45-30 after halftime. MacDonald added 10 points in a 90-50 win over Cheyney. Over the pair of wins, MacDonald shot 63 percent (12-of-19) from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc..

A product of Canisius High School, MacDonald has started all 16 games and is averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He also leads the ECC and ranks 16th nationally in free throw percentage (51-56/.911). He began his career at Niagara University and has spent the past three seasons with the Wildcats. A third-team All-ECC selection last year, he has started every game over the past two seasons and has totaled 955 points and 294 rebounds over his career. He is also shooting 87-percent (185-212) from the charity stripe over his career.

Daemen (12-4, 2-1 ECC) has won four-straight (and 11 of its last 13) games and is ranked fifth in the East Region by the D2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC). The Wildcats return to action this weekend when the host they College of Staten Island (Jan. 12) and the University of the District of Columbia (Jan. 14) in ECC games.

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.

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