AMHERST, N.Y. – Six different members of the No. 7/6 Daemen University men's basketball team finished in double figures as they defeated Mercy University in wire-to-wire fashion, 106-78, in East Coast Conference men's basketball action Sunday afternoon at Lumsden Gymnasium.
With the win, the Wildcats remained perfect at 9-0 and 4-0 in ECC play while the Mavericks dropped to 3-7 overall and 2-1 in conference action. The victory also marked the best start to a season for Daemen in the "Modern Era" as well.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Graduate student guard
Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y) and redshirt sophomore center
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) paced the Daemen offense with 19 points each. Mason notched 15 of his 19 points from beyond the arc with his five makes from deep the most by a member of the Wildcats in a game this season.
• As for Bill, he had a nearly perfect afternoon from the floor as he went 9-of-10 and totaled a team-high six rebounds with a game-high two blocks.
• Sophomore guard
Ryan Heath (Rochester, N.Y.) and
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) each tallied 13 points and added in three rebounds apiece.
• Graduate student
Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.), totaled a season-high 12 points in the victory.
• Redshirt senior forward
Justin Hemphill dished out a career-high seven assists and scored 11 points to aid in the Wildcats winning effort.
• Ethan Robertson led Mercy in scoring with 25 points while on the glass, Zein Wahdan tied the game-high in rebounds with six.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Wildcats controlled the tempo of the contest from the opening tip-off as they scored 10 of the first 14 points of the afternoon. Mason led the initial scoring burst with his first two triples of the day.
• The two ECC rivals traded buckets throughout the middle part of the stanza with Mercy getting to within seven of Daemen, 27-20, with 8:36 left in the first half. Still, the Wildcats stymied the Mavericks push as a Heath triple with 7:34 left before halftime spurred a 12-4 run for the Blue and White that saw them extend their lead by 17, 41-24, with 3:06 to play.
• The two sides exchanged scores to close the half with the Wildcats ahead, 49-33.
• Daemen continued to roll after halftime as they commanded a 21 point lead after the a Salzburg jumper made it 63-42 with 15:13 remaining in the contest.
• Less than two minutes later, a Bill layup kicked-off an 18-4 run for the Wildcats that saw them extend their lead by 32, 83-51, with 9:03 remaining. Daemen did not let off the gas the remainder of the afternoon and a 3-pointer by junior guard
Ronnie Williams (Tampa, Fla.) with 2:34 left pushed the Wildcats past the 100 point mark.
GAME NOTES
• Today marked the 23
rd all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Mavericks. Daemen has never lost to Mercy in program history.
• Daemen 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
• Dating back to the second half at the University of the District of Columbia on Dec. 8, Daemen has scored 40-or-more points in five consecutive halves.
• Mason is now three 3-pointers away from passing Brian Montanaro and David Skolen to move into second all-time for career triples with 280.
• Today marked the first instance since Nov. 9 against Saint Anselm that five-or-more players scored 10-or-more points for the Wildcats in a game.
• Mason knocked down five 3-pointers in a game for the first time since Dec. 19, 2023, against Franklin Pierce.
• Daemen's 57 point second half marks the first instance since Nov. 26 against California (Pa.) that Daemen scored 50-or-more points in a half.
UP NEXT
Daemen will close out the 2024 calendar year with a trip to Vermont to compete in the Doc Jacobs Classic, hosted by Saint Michael's. The Blue and White will face Southern Connecticut State on Dec. 20 before battling the host Purple Knights the next day.
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.
