Geoff Schneider

Men's Basketball Plays At Staten Island And District of Columbia This Weekend

2/8/2024 10:14:00 AM

JUMP BALL
Daemen travels to the College of Staten Island and the University of the District of Columbia for East Coast Conference games this weekend. Daemen enters the weekend in third place in the ECC standings, a half game behind Staten Island.

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 fifth in the D2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Region poll released Monday, Feb. 5.

THE SEASON SO FAR
Daemen has won four-straight games and stands at 16-6 overall and is in third place in the ECC standings with a 6-3 league mark. Daemen has featured a balanced scoring attack and solid defense thus far. Six players are averaging in double figures and the Wildcats lead the ECC in fewest points allowed per game (69.6). Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) returned to the lineup this past weekend after missing seven games with a hand injury. He totaled 14 points and seven rebounds in just 21 minutes against D'Youville and is averaging 15.7 points with 29 three-pointers. Sophomore Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) is averaging 12.5 points and 3.4 assists with 35 three-pointers. Graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.), the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, is averaging 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds. A five-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection, he ranks second among the ECC leaders in blocks (38) and third in steals (38). Fifth-year senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) is averaging 11.2 points, while senior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) is contributing 11.5 points with a team-high 59 three-pointers. Senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) is producing 11.0 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per contest.

WILDCATS COMING OFF WIN AT D'YOUVILLE
The Wildcats will be playing their first game since posting an 84-64 win at D'Youville last weekend. Daemen ran its winning streak to four games and improved to 16-6 overall and 6-3 in the ECC. Daemen has won its last four games by an average of 23 points. Five players scored in double figures for the Wildcats, marking the eighth time this season Daemen has finished a game with five players in double figures. Senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) netted 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He also totaled four blocks and two steals. Graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) connected on 6-of-8 shots and scored 15 points. He added five rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) returned to action after missing seven games with a hand injury and contributed 14 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes.

THERE'S NO I IN TEAM
Daemen features a balanced attack with six players averaging between 11.0 and 15.7 points per game. Daemen has six players ranked among the Top-25 ECC scoring leaders. No other team has more than three players. The Wildcats have had 15 games where four players have scored in double figures and five players have reached double digits in points eight 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 (.470) and has shot over 45-percent from the field in 13 of its 22 games. The Wildcats are 8-0 this year when they shoot 50-percent or better from the field.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has limited 13 of its 22 opponents to less than 70 points and leads the ECC in team defense, allowing just 69.6 points per game. The Wildcats also rank first in the ECC in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 40-percent from the field. Daemen has produced the ECC Defensive Player of the Week seven times this season. Joey Atkins has earned the honor five times, while Justin Hemphill is a two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Wildcats are 9-1 at home this season and have won 18 of their last 19 home games dating back to last season. They are 101-19 (.842) at home during Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present).

NOTABLE
Joey Atkins recorded his 100th career block during a loss to Dominican on Nov. 18. He has totaled 129 career blocks and has moved into the top five in career blocks among Daemen's all-time leaders. Dylan Fasoyiro scored his 600th career point during a loss at Queens. After scoring just 23 points during his two seasons at Ashland, he has racked up 625 points in 44 games (14.2 ppg) at Daemen. Andrew Mason has become the seventh player in program history to reach 200 career three-pointers. He recorded his 200th during the win over Molloy on Dec. 8 and ranks fifth in career three-pointers at Daemen with 235. Mason stands 13 points shy of 1,000 for his career. Nick MacDonald recorded his 150th career three-pointer during a win over Saint Anselm. MacDonald leads the ECC and ranks eighth nationally in free throw percentage (61-66/.924). He scored his 1,000th career during the win over Queens on Jan. 28.

MACDONALD NOTCHES WIN NO. 450
Head coach Mike MacDonald registered the 450th win of his career following the victory over Molloy on Jan. 26. Among active NCAA Division II coaches, he ranks first in the ECC, fifth in the East Region and 26th nationally in career wins with 452. MacDonald is in his 10th season on the Daemen 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 195-80, 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 452-306 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. Philipkoski was named the ECC Rookie of the Week after scoring 34 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a recent win at Mercy.

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 DOLPHINS
Staten Island (13-8, 7-3 ECC) snapped a two-game losing streak following an 84-71 win at D'Youville last weekend. The Dolphins went 9-19 overall and 7-9 in ECC play last year and made their first-ever ECC Tournament appearance. T.J. Tibbs is entering his sixth season as head coach at Staten Island. Staten Island returns four starters and five of its top six scorers from last year. Junior forward Messiah Mallory, the 2021-22 ECC Rookie of the Year, returns after leading the team in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.9 rpg) last year. Long range threats Bryce Waterman and Luis Armas also return. Waterman drilled 68 three-pointers and averaged 12.4 points last year, while Armas made 65 triples and averaged 10.8 points. JJ Chestnut, a four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection last year, also returns. Waterman is averaging a team-high 15.4 points. He also leads the ECC and ranks third nationally in three-pointers made (77). Mallory recorded his sixth double-double of the year (18 pts, 12 rebs) in the win over D'Youville last week and is averaging 14.4 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds. He also leads the ECC in blocked shots (41). Chestnut is averaging 9.3 points and 3.5 assists. Freshman Aaron Goldstein is a three-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and is averaging 9.1 points and 3.1 assists. CSI was tied for third in the ECC preseason coaches' poll.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between Daemen and Staten Island. Daemen owns a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series. Staten Island posted its first-ever win over the Wildcats last month at Lumsden Gymnasium.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS
District of Columbia (7-11, 5-4 ECC) hosts D'Youville Friday night before taking on the Wildcats on Sunday. UDC enters the weekend riding a two-game winning streak and is coming off a 77-65 win over Roberts Wesleyan last weekend. The Firebirds went 13-14 overall and 10-6 in ECC play last year. They advanced to the semifinals of the ECC Tournament, where they suffered a loss to top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas. Mike Riley is in his 10th season as head coach. UDC lost its top two scorers from last season and returns just seven players. Sophomore guard Eric Morgan, Jr. started 23 games as a freshman and is averaging a team-high 14.1 points this season. Senior Hartnel Haye averaged 10.7 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds last year. He is shooting 53-percent from the field this year and is averaging 12.9 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds. Junior college transfer Vernon Simmons has produced off the bench. He scored 19 points in a recent 81-75 loss to league-leading St. Thomas Aquinas and is averaging 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. Junior point guard Tevin Curtis is contributing 10.1 points and 4.9 assists per game, while senior forward Micah Campbell leads the team in blocks (32) and is averaging 6.6 points and 6.3 rebounds. UDC was tied for third in the ECC preseason coaches' poll.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's game will mark the 20th all-time meeting between Daemen and UDC. Daemen has prevailed in the last 12 meetings and the Wildcats own a 17-2 advantage in the all-time series. Daemen swept the season series last year, including an 80-70 win at UDC.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen begins a four-game stretch of home games when it hosts league-leading St. Thomas Aquinas College (Feb. 16) and Mercy University (Feb. 18) next weekend.

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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