AMHERST, N.Y. – Four different Wildcats scored 10-or-more points as the No. 7/No. 6 Daemen University men's basketball team stymied RV St. Thomas Aquinas College, 84-55, in East Coast Conference men's basketball action Friday night at Lumsden Gymnasium.
With the win, the Wildcats remained undefeated and moved to 8-0 and 3-0 in conference action while the Spartans dropped their second straight game and fell to 5-5 and 0-2 in ECC action. Along with their top 10 national ranking, Daemen also entered today's matchup ranked No. 1 in the latest Division II College Sports Communications (D2CSC) East Region Poll while St. Thomas Aquinas was ranked fourth.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Junior guard
Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) dropped a season-high 20 points on a nearly perfect eight-of-nine night from the floor.
• Also assisting the Wildcats shooting efforts was sophomore guard
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) as he dropped 12 points while also almost going perfect from the floor on five-of-six shooting.
• Guards
Ryan Heath (Rochester, N.Y.) and
Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) tallied 11 and 10 points each in the winning effort.
• On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt sophomore center
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) hauled in a game-high eight rebounds and tied his season-high in blocks with four.
• Redshirt senior forward
Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) notched five steals, the most by any Daemen player in a game this season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Down 12-8 early, the Wildcats offense took off as Bill layup kicked-off a 19-0 run for the Wildcats that saw them reclaim the lead for good and hold a 27-12 edge with 7:13 left in the half.
• The 'Cats offense continued to hum as they closed the opening stanza by scoring 15 of the final 20 points of the frame to enter the locker room with a 44-23 advantage. Glover represented seven of the final 15 tallies for Daemen in the first half as well.
• Out of the break, the Wildcats stayed hot as they notched 18 of the first 23 points of the second half, led by another seven tallies from Glover, to command a then game-high 34-point lead, 62-28, with 12:07 to play.
• Daemen never took their foot of the gas for the remainder of the contest as a dunk from redshirt sophomore forward
Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) extended their lead to a game-high 41, 80-39, with 5:33 left.
• The Blue and White ended the night shooting a season-high .611 (33-of-54) from the floor while going 10-of-19 (.526) from deep. Daemen also dominated the glass, grabbing 28 rebounds compared to 23 for the Spartans and also forced 21 turnovers which turned in 27 points.
• STAC closed the contest shooting 21-of-52 (.404) and only knocked down four triples all evening.
GAME NOTES
• Today marked the 34
th all-time meeting between the squads with the series dating back to the 1997-98 season. Daemen earned their 12
th win in the series and improved to 7-6 at home against STAC with the victory this evening.
• The Wildcats entered today's game ranked No. 7 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll and No. 6 in the Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) National Poll. Daemen has been ranked in both polls dating back to the week of Nov. 18 and remain the only member of the East Coast Conference to be ranked in both polls as well
• Daemen's 21-point lead at the end of the first half was their second largest lead of the season after the opening 20 minutes.
• The 'Cats tallied 40 bench points, their most since their reserves accounted for 45 points at the College of Staten Island (Dec. 6).
• The Wildcats have help opponents to 60-or-less points in seven of a possible eight games this season. The 'Cats also entered today as the national leader in field goal percentage defense (.353) and scoring defense (57.4).
• Hemphill recorded five steals in a game for the first time since Feb. 11, 2024, against the District of Columbia
• Glover tallied 20-or-more points for the third time in his career and finished in double-figures for the 29
th time with his 20 points this evening.
• Daemen is 3-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. That season, the Wildcats went 16-2 in ECC action and won their first 14 conference contests of the year.
UP NEXT
Daemen will play their final home game of the 2024 calendar year on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they take on Mercy.
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 University men's basketball program on Twitter and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.
