Skip To Main Content

Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MBB_HuiddlevsUB2023-24
Geoff Schneider
66
Daemen Daemen 24-8,12-4 ECC
77
Winner St. Thomas Aquinas STA 24-5,13-2 ECC
Daemen Daemen
24-8,12-4 ECC
66
Final
77
St. Thomas Aquinas STA
24-5,13-2 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen Daemen 29 37 66
St. Thomas Aquinas STA 35 42 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

Wildcats Drop ECC Tournament Title Game To Spartans, 77-66

Daemen Is Expect To Earn An At-Large Bid To The NCAA Division II Tournament

AMHERST, N.Y. – Tournament MVP Kyle Pulliam scored 21 points and all-tournament selection James Patterson added 19 points to lead top-seeded and nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College to a 77-66 victory over third-seeded Daemen University this afternoon in the championship game of the 2024 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship tournament. The game was played at Aquinas Hall on the campus of STAC.

Daemen, which saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end, dropped to 24-8 on the year and now awaits a probable at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Division II Tournament. STAC (25-5), which has now defeated Daemen in the last four ECC Tournament title games, earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Spartans have won five-straight and eight of the last nine ECC Tournament titles.

The Wildcats entered the game ranked fourth in the third and final NCAA East Region poll released earlier this week. STAC is ranked second in the region and No. 15 nationally by the National Basketball Coaches Association.

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) and graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) were both named to the all-tournament team.
  • Fasoyiro was the lone Wildcat to reach double figures in scoring today, marking the first time all season the Wildcats only had one player finish a game with 10 or more points. Fasoyiro, who averaged 21.3 points during Daemen's three tournament games, went 7-of-17 from the field and totaled 21 points and five rebounds.
  • Atkins added nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.
  • Freshman Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) played a solid 15 minutes off the bench and finished with nine points, seven rebounds and two steals.
  • Fifth-year senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) also scored nine points, while senior Andrew Mason added eight points and five rebounds.
  • The all-tournament team consisted of Malik Brooks of Roberts Wesleyan, Messiah Mallory of Staten Island, Fasoyiro, Atkins, Patterson and Rich Smith of STAC. Pulliam took home MVP honors.

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen was making its ninth consecutive ECC tournament appearance and was seeking its first championship. The Wildcats have advanced to the semifinal round in all nine of their ECC tournament berths. Daemen has played in the tournament's final round on five occasions, falling in 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 to St. Thomas Aquinas.
  • Daemen has reached 20 wins for the sixth-straight season. The streak does not include the 2020-21 season, as Daemen only played 16 games during that COVID-10 shortened 2020-21 season.
  • Daemen remains one win shy of establishing a new record for most wins in a season (25) during its NCAA-era (2015-present). The Wildcats also posted 24 wins in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
  • Daemen's eight-game winning streak was the longest of the season for the Wildcats.
  • Daemen trailed 14-11 eight minutes into the game when the Wildcats scored eight unanswered points and took a 19-11 lead following a jumper by Philipkoski with 8:50 left in the first half.
  • STAC quickly regained a 21-19 lead and the Spartans later took a 30-23 lead following a Pulliam bucket with 2:48 left before the break. The hosts would take a 35-29 lead into intermission.
  • The Spartans opened up a 12-point lead, 44-32, three minutes into the second half, but Daemen answered with a 10-3 run and cut the lead to five points, 47-42, following a conventional three-point play by Philipkoski with 14:02 left.
  • Daemen would come no closer than that, as the Spartans took control with a 19-5 run that gave the hosts a 66-47 lead midway through the second half.
  • The teams traded baskets before Daemen made one last run and cut the lead to eight points, 70-62, following a bucket by Atkins with 1:52 left. STAC got a conventional three-point play by Patterson on its next possession and Daemen came no closer than nine points after that.
  • Daemen shot just 39-percent (25-65) from the field overall and went just 7-of-26 from downtown. The Wildcats made just 9-of-18 free throws.
  • STAC shot just 37-percent (26-of-70) from the field overall and made 9-of-27 from downtown. The Spartans connected on 16-of-20 from the charity stripe.
  • STAC posted a commanding 52-40 edge in total rebounds. The Spartans collected 21 offensive boards, which they converted into a 27-13 advantage in second chance points.
NEXT JUMP BALL
The 64-team field for the NCAA Division II Tournament will be announced on NCAA.com tonight at 11 p.m. STAC, Southern New Hampshire University and Jefferson University have locked up automatic bids to the eight-team East regional after winning their respective conference tournament titles. Daemen is expected to land one of the five at-large bids to the regional, which will take place next weekend at a site to be announced tonight. Daemen earned an at-large bid to the NCAAs in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and narrow missed out on the field the past two seasons.
 

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.
 
Print Friendly Version