Skip To Main Content

Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Zach Philipkoski shoots a 3-pointer at Queens
Max Sacco
99
Winner Daemen Daemen 14-0,6-0 ECC
67
Queens (NY) Queens 7-9,3-1 ECC
Winner
Daemen Daemen
14-0,6-0 ECC
99
Final
67
Queens (NY) Queens
7-9,3-1 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen Daemen 46 53 99
Queens (NY) Queens 34 33 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | CONTACT: Max Sacco, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | msacco@daemen.edu

No. 3/4 Men's Basketball Handles Queens, 99-67

Wildcats Finish Road Swing 5-0

FLUSHING, N.Y. –Five different members of the No. 3/No. 4 Daemen University men's basketball team finished in double-figures, led by a season-high 21 points from sophomore guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.), as they defeated Queens College, 99-67, in East Coast Conference action Sunday afternoon at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
 
With the win, the Wildcats kept their record unblemished and improved to 14-0 overall and 6-0 in ECC play while the Knights dropped to 7-9 overall and 3-1 in conference play as they dropped their first conference game of the year.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Philipkoski ended the day going eight-of-nine from the field and a perfect five-of-five from beyond the arc. Along with his 21 points, the sophomore guard added in four assists and three rebounds.
• Redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) notched his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. He also provided a team-best five assists.
• Redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) nearly notched his own double-double as he ended the day with 15 points and eight boards. The center also tallied a game-high three blocks.
• Graduate students Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) and Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) aided the Wildcats offensive efforts with 11 and 10 points each.
• Shamar Chester led all Queens scorers with 14 points while Jaden Pena hauled in a team-best eight rebounds in the loss.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The two ECC foes traded buckets to open the afternoon, but the Wildcats took control as a Hemphill layup kickstarted a 18-6 run that gave Daemen their first double-digit lead of the game, 21-10, with 12:00 remaining in the first half.
• Queens began to chip away at the Wildcats lead as they whittled it down to as little as seven, 31-24, with 6:09 to play. Still, Daemen weathered the run and ended the first half on a 15-10 spurt of their own, bookended by scores from Philipkoski, to lead 46-34 after 20 minutes.
• Daemen continued to control the contest out of the halftime break and used multiple long scoring stretches during the middle of the second half, highlighted by a 17-3 run ignited by a Philipkoski bucket, to push their lead to 30, 80-50, with 6:43 to play.
• The Blue and White continued to attack the Knights for the remainder of the contest and a basket from Bill at the 3:44 mark pushed the Wildcats past the 90-point threshold.
• Daemen and Queens traded scores to end the contest with Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.), Ayden Harrison (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and Jackson Kulik (Webster, N.Y.) combining to score the Wildcats final points of the afternoon in the 'Cats 99-67 win.
• Daemen ended the day shooting 39-of-65 (.600) from the floor and 11-of-21 (.521) from deep. As a team, the Wildcats outrebounded the Knights, 39-28, and notched 53 bench points compared to 31 for the hosts.
• Queens concluded the contest shooting 29-of-63 (.397) overall and only knocked down five 3-pointers.
 
GAME NOTES
• Daemen entered tonight's contest coming in at No. 3 in the most recent National Association of Basketball Coaches National Poll and No. 4 from the newest D2CSC National Poll.
• Today marked the 24th all-time meeting between Daemen and Queens. The Wildcats now lead the all-time series 20-4. Today also marked the largest victory in program history over the Knights as well.
• Daemen has won all six of their ECC contests by 20-or-more points.
• Hemphill now has 11 double-doubles for his career, the most of any active Daemen player.
• Today marked the first time Daemen has won by 30-or-more in consecutive games since Dec. 28-29, 2012, when they downed Redeemer College in back-to-back games, 99-57 on Dec. 28 and 112-72 on Dec. 29.
•  Bill has now totaled 10 blocks across his last four games.
• Philipkoski joins Mason as the only players this season to knock down five-or-more 3-pointers in a game.
• The 'Cats .600 field goal percentage marked the first instance since Feb. 17, 2023, at St. Thomas Aquinas that Daemen finished a game shooting 60.0-or-better from the floor.
• Daemen committed 10-or-less turnovers for the second consecutive game. The 'Cats only had seven turnovers at Molloy on Friday.
• Daemen ended their road swing a perfect 5-0 and scored 80-or-more points in four of their five games. 
 
UP NEXT
Daemen will return home for the first time in 2025 to face longtime crosstown rival D'Youville on Jan. 16. Tip-off from Amherst, N.Y., is set for 7 p.m.
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.
Print Friendly Version