Justin Hemphill goes for a layup against STAC

No. 3/6 Men's Basketball to Begin 2025 on the Road at Franklin Pierce

Wildcats Put No. 3/6 Ranking on the Line Against the Ravens

1/2/2025 10:00:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Max Sacco, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | msacco@daemen.edu

RINGING IN 2025 AWAY FROM HOME
The No. 3/6 Daemen University men's basketball team will head north to face Franklin Pierce in their first game of the 2025 calendar year. Tip-off between the Wildcats and Ravens is set for noon. This season, Daemen is 3-0 against schools from the Northeast-10 (NE10) with wins against Saint Anselm, Southern Connecticut State and Saint Michael's.

TOP THREE
For the first time in program history, the Daemen University men's basketball team entered the top three of a national poll as they moved up to No. 3 in the most recent National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll, as released Tuesday morning. The Wildcats tallied 354 points and garnered a first place vote as well. Within the most recent NABC National Poll, Nova Southeastern (Sunshine State) retained their top spot with 398 points and nabbed 15 of a possible 16 first place votes while Washburn (MIAA) remained in second place with 383 points. The Wildcats are one of five undefeated teams left across the country and the only undefeated team remaining within the East Coast Conference.

BIG BEN BILL
Redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) got an early present this holiday sea- son as he was tabbed the East Coast Conference Player of the Week for the third time this year, the ECC announced on Dec. 23. Bill joins Gene Anderson of the University of the District of Columbia as the only player this season to win any weekly award on three occasions this season. The center has four total weekly honors this season, the most of any player in the conference so far this year, as he was tabbed ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Dec. 9. At the Doc Jacobs Classic (Dec. 20-21), Bill averaged 17.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game, highlighted by a career- high 28 points on 13-of-15 shooting from the floor to pair with six rebounds and two steals in the Wildcats 84-65 win over Southern Connecticut State (Dec. 20).

LEADING THE PACK
Under head coach Mike MacDonald, Daemen currently leads the nation in field goal percentage defense (.362) and ranks third nationally for both scoring defense (60.1) and scoring margin (22.6). On the glass, the 'Cats are also currently sixth in the country for rebounding margin (10.8) as well. Individually, redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) leads the East Coast Conference and is third nationally for field goal percentage at .717.

MAKING HISTORY FROM DEEP
Against Saint Michael's (Dec. 21), graduate student guard An- drew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) tallied his 281st 3-pointer of his career to pass Brian Montanaro (2002-06) and David Skolen (1986-90) for second all-time in program history for career triples with 281. Mason now needs 35 3-pointers to surpass Jeff Redband's (2015-20) 316 triples for the program record. Graduate student guard Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) has the unique distinction of playing with both 3-point specialists as Salzberg was a freshman when he took the court with Redband. Looking at the ECC as a whole, Mason is also ranked sixth all-time in the conference for career 3-pointers and is also closing in on Roger Powers (Saint Rose) and Charlie Marquardt (Molloy) who currently occupy fourth place with 305 makes from deep.

SCOUTING FRANKLIN PIERCE (1-10, 0-4 NE10)
Tabbed last in the NE-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Ravens edged Mercy, 85-83, for their first win of the year back on Dec. 9. Leading the scoring efforts for Franklin Pierce this season has been graduate student Donte Evans with his 21.9 points per game which currently ranks second in the NE10 and 25th nationally. Junior Demariontay Hall has paced the Ravens on the glass with an average of 6.5 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen is 2-1 all-time and 1-0 away from home against Franklin Pierce with the series dating back to the 2021-22 season.

UP NEXT
The 'Cats will wrap up their season-long five game road swing with a trip downstate, starting with a conference tilt on Long Island against Molloy. Tip-off from Rockville Centre, N.Y., is scheduled for 7 P.M. on Jan. 10.

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.

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