No. 2/3 Men's Basketball Heads East on the I-90 for Showdown Against Roberts Wesleyan

Wildcats Put No. 2/3 Ranking on the Line Against the Redhawks

1/24/2025 11:10:00 AM

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

HEADING EAST
The No. 2/3 Daemen University men's basketball team will head one hour eastbound on the I-90 to face regional rival Roberts Wesleyan. Tip-off between the Wildcats and Redhawks is set for 4 p.m. on Jan. 25.

HOOPDIRT.COM DIVISION II COACH OF THE WEEK
After he helped lead the No. 2/3 Daemen University men's basketball team to double-digit victories over D'Youville and No. 21/7 Gannon last week, head coach Mike MacDonald was tabbed the HoopDirt.com Division II Coach of the Week, as announced Tuesday afternoon. MacDonald is the only East Coast Conference coach to win the award this season and joins Matt Healing of Pace as the only other coach from the East Region to take home the honor this season. This sea- son under MacDonald, Daemen has won by double digits in 15 of their 16 games and are now 4-0 against teams ranked within the top 25 or receiving votes in any national poll this season.

TOP THREE
The Wildcats held their No. 2 ranking in the most recent and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll and rose one spot to No. 3 in the most recent Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) National Poll. Daemen garnered 383 points and one first place vote in the most recent NABC poll while in the D2CSC poll, they tallied 318 points. Daemen has been ranked within the top five of both national polls since Jan. 6 and within the top 10 of both polls since Dec. 3. The Wildcats 16 game winning streak is the second longest in the country only behind Washburn's 17 game streak.

AHEAD OF THE REST
As a team, Daemen currently leads the nation in field goal percentage defense at 35.5 and is ranked second nationally in both rebounding margin (10.8), scoring margin (25.0) and bench points per game (41.6). Individually, redshirt sophomore forward Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y) is currently ranked third in the nation and leads the ECC in field goal percentage (.713) while sophomore guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) leads the conference and is 35th nationally for assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.53.

ECC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season, redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) was tabbed the ECC Co-Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon. Hemphill joins Malik Brooks of Roberts Wesleyan as the other ECC Co-Player of the Week. The Buffalo, N.Y., native previously earned the honor this season back on Nov. 18 as well. In two games last week, Hemphill averaged 15 points, seven re- bounds and 7.5 rebounds per game to help Daemen maintain their unblemished record. The redshirt senior had one of his best games of the year as he nearly secured a triple-double with 16 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 11 assists in Daemen's 82-70 win over No. 21/7 Gannon. He became the first member of the Blue and White to have 10-or-more assists in a game since Jay Sarkis had 11 assists at Queens on Jan. 21, 2018.

NO SHORTAGE OF TIME
Through 16 games this season, zero Daemen players have averaged above 30 minutes per game. Only two players, Ryan Salzberg and Justin Glover, barely average above 25 minutes per game at 25.6 and 25.5 minutes per game respectively. Against Gannon, Glover and Salzberg became the first players of the Wildcats to play above 30 minutes in a game since Dec. 21 at St. Michael's when Salzberg and redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) played 34 and 33 minutes respectively.

SCOUTING ROBERTS WESLEYAN (7-10, 4-3 ECC)
The Redhawks dropped their last game to D'Youville, 86-80, in double overtime on Jan. 22. Leading Roberts Wesleyan this season has been graduate student guard Malik Brooks who was named the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division I Player of the Week this past Monday. Brooks is 15th nationally and second in the ECC for points per game with an average of 22.4 and has found support from junior guard Armando Camacho who leads the ECC in total assists with 83. As a team, the Redhawks rank second in the ECC and 32nd nationally for fast break points per game with an average of 15.6.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen is 51-12 all-time against Roberts Wesleyan and have won nine of the last 10 meetings.

UP NEXT
Daemen returns back to Amherst, N.Y., to face the College of Staten Island on Jan. 31. Tip-off is set for 7:30 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.

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