AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's basketball team held their No. 2 ranking in the most recent and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll and No. 3 spot in the most recent Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) National Poll. Daemen garnered 382 points and one first-place vote in the NABC poll and 320 points in the most recent D2CSC poll. The Wildcats improved to 17-0 and 8-0 in East Coast Conference play this past week with a 98-75 victory over Roberts Wesleyan on Jan. 21.
   
Tabbed No. 2 for the third consecutive week in the NABC charts, the Wildcats remained in the top three with Washburn (MIAA) topping the poll with 399 points and collected the remaining 15 first place votes while Nova Southeastern (Sunshine State) earned 370 points and landed in third.
 
Within in the D2CSC poll, Washburn led the poll with 348 points and 12 first place votes while Nova Southeastern held their second-place ranking with 331 points and two first place votes. Daemen closed out the top three with their 320 points.
 
Since Jan. 6, Daemen has been ranked within the top five of both polls and has been ranked top 10 nationally in both lists since Dec. 3. The 'Cats 17 game winning streak is second only behind Washburn's 19 game winning streak. Dating back to last year, the 'Cats have won 14 consecutive games at home in Lumsden Gymnasium and this season specifically, have won each home contest by 10-or-more points. Within conference play, Daemen has won all eight of their ECC contests by 20-or-more points, highlighted by a 45-point blowout victory over Molloy on Jan. 10. Individually, seven players are averaging above 7.0 points per game. Redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) (17.1 ppg), redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) (12.1 ppg) and sophomore guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) (10.1 ppg) are averaging above 10.0 ppg. Additionally, no members of the Wildcats this season have averaged above 26.0 minutes per game.
 
This Wildcats currently lead the nation in field goal percentage defense at .360 and rank second in team field goal percentage at .526. The 'Cats are also ranked second nationally in scoring margin (24.1), rebound margin (10.1) and bench points per game (41.0) and lead the conference in all three statistics as well. Individually, Bill currently leads the country in field goal percentage at .740 while Philipkoski the ECC and ranked 58th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.25.
 
Daemen is back in action on Jan. 31 when they welcome the College of Staten Island to Amherst, N.Y. 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.