STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – For the first time since the 2012-13 season, the #8/#7 Daemen University men's basketball team started their season 6-0 as they defeated the College of Staten Island, 67-47, in East Coast Conference men's basketball action Friday night at the Sports & Recreation Center.
With the win, the Wildcats remained perfect while the Dolphins dropped to 3-5 in the first conference game of the season for both teams. The 6-0 mark also represents the best start for Daemen under the leadership of head coach
Mike MacDonald.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Redshirt sophomore center
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) continued his torrid start to the year with his second consecutive double-double, ending the evening with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds.
• Sophomore guard
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) notched his second career double-double off 10 points and a season-high 10 rebounds.
• Redshirt senior forward
Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) dished out six assists, tying his career-high, while junior guard
Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) amassed a game-high three steals.
• Graduate student forward
Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) turned in eight point, nine rebound performance to assist the Wildcats in the win.
• JJ Chestnut led Staten Island with 13 points while on the glass, Messiah Mallory nabbed a team-high seven board for the hosts in the loss.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Tied early in the contest, the Wildcats gained some breathing room with an 11-0 run, paced by five points from Philipkoski, in the early part of the first half command a 14-5 lead with 12:20 remaining in the opening stanza.
• Daemen and Staten Island exchanged buckets the remainder of the frame and scored five of the seven final tallies of the frame to enter the locker room with a 36-25 edge. Bill and Philipkoski led Daemen in scoring during the first half with 13 and 10 points respectively. Both Bill and Philipkoski only missed two shots each during the first half with Bill going five-of-seven while Philipkoski knocked down four-of-six shots from the floor.
• The Wildcats and Dolphins traded buckets to start the second stanza, but the Blue and White again found their spark as a score from graduate student guard
Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) uncorked an 14-3 run for Daemen and expanded their lead to a then game-high 20, 53-33, with 7:54 to play.
• The 'Cats did not relent the rest of the way and left Staten Island with a 67-47 win.
Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) and Bill combined to score nine of the final 14 points of the evening for the Daemen with Nwugwo tallying five points and Bill scoring four.
GAME NOTES
• Daemen entered today's contest ranked eighth nationally by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and seventh in the most recent Division II College Sports Communicators national poll. The Blue and White were also ranked first in the East Region as well by D2CSC.
• Salzberg became the 34
th player in program history to play in 100 games with his appearance tonight and joined his teammate
Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) as the only active players to appear in 100-or-more games with Daemen.
• Bill is the first player to finish with 20-or-more points in consecutive games since
Dylan Fasoyiro had a streak of four games from March 2-10, 2024.
• Daemen is now 6-2 all-time against Staten Island and 3-1 when facing the Dolphins on the road.
• Dating back to last season, the Wildcats are now 25-0 when leading at halftime.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will head to the southernmost part of the conference to face the University of the District of Columbia on Sunday. Tip-off from the nation's capital is set for 3:15.
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.
