AMHERST, N.Y. – For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the No. 2/3 Daemen University men's basketball team claimed the East Coast Conference Regular Season Championship as they downed Molloy, 96-66, in ECC action Friday evening at Lumsden Gymnasium.
With the win the Wildcats, who are the only undefeated Division II team remaining across the country, improved to 22-0 and 13-0 in ECC play while the Lions dropped to 8-14 and 4-7 in conference action.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Redshirt sophomore center
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) led Daemen with a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds to secure his fifth double-double of the season.
• Redshirt senior forward
Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) tallied 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the winning effort.
• Junior guard
Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) notched 10 points while graduate student guard
Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) tallied a game-high five assists to help pace the Wildcats offense.
• Graduate student guard
Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) nabbed a game-high three steals and team-best two blocks on the defensive side of the ball.
•
Payton Shumpert led the Molloy attack with a game-high 20 points while Rob Matos and Bryce Merchant provided 16 and 14 points respectively to help pace the Lions offensive efforts.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Tied 12-12 at the 14:30 mark, a triple from Mason helped spark a 15-5 run for the 'Cats that put them ahead 27-17 with 10:16 left in the half.
• The two sides continued to exchange buckets throughout the middle part of the frame with Daemen not relinqueshing their lead, 36-28, just under six minutes left in the half.
• Daemen found one more offensive surge before the frame ended as a Becker triple kicked off a 13-1 run that gave the Blue and White their first 20 point advantage of the evening, 49-29, at the 1:16 mark.
• The Wildcats entered the locker room ahead, 51-32, after a Philipkoski triple with under a minute to play.
• Daemen continued to attack the Lions out of the halftime break as they opened the second stanza by tallying nine of the first 11 points to extend their lead to nearly 30, 61-33, with 17:22 remaining in the contest.
• The 'Cats never relinquished their lead for the remainder of the way and pushed their lead to 30 twice en route to their 22
nd consecutive victory and third ECC Regular Season Championship.
• Daemen ended the game shooting 38-of-73 (.521) from the floor and dominated Molloy on the glass, 49-25. The 'Cats also paced the game in bench points as they scored 44 points off the bench compared to just nine for the Lions.
• Molloy ended the evening shooting .414 (24-of-58) and only notched six assists in the loss.
GAME NOTES
• Daemen entered the contest coming in at No. 2 in the most recent National Association of Basketball Coaches National Poll and No. 3 from the latest D2CSC National Poll.
• Tonight marked the 24
th all-time meeting between Daemen and Molloy. The Wildcats now lead the all-time series, 16-8, and
• Daemen clinched their first ECC Regular Season Championship since the 2018-19 season.
• For the first time this season, the Blue and White tied their opponent in 3-pointers made as both sides had eight triples. Last season, Daemen and their opponent never finished a contest tied in 3-pointers.
• With his two 3-pointers tonight, Mason tied Charlie Marquardt (Molloy) and Roger Powers (Saint Rose) for fourth all-time in ECC history for career 3-pointers with 305.
• Daemen is now 10-0 this season when playing after 5 p.m.
• The Wildcats outrebounded an opponent by more than 20 for the first time since Jan. 16 against D'Youville.
UP NEXT
Daemen is back in action Sunday at home when they face Queens at 2 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.
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