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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Justin Hemphill shoots a jumper over multiple Queens players
Max Sacco
67
Queens (NY) Queens 9-15,5-7 ECC
91
Winner Daemen Daemen 23-0,14-0 ECC
Queens (NY) Queens
9-15,5-7 ECC
67
Final
91
Daemen Daemen
23-0,14-0 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Queens (NY) Queens 36 31 67
Daemen Daemen 48 43 91

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

Six Wildcats Finish in Double-Digits as No. 2/3 Men's Basketball Slays Queens

Daemen improves to 23-0 and 14-0 in conference action

AMHERST, N.Y. – Six different members of the No. 2/3 Daemen University men's basketball team finished in double-figures, led by 19 points from redshirt sophomore Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.), as they downed Queens College, 91-67, in East Coast Conference men's basketball action Sunday afternoon at Lumsden Gymnasium.
 
With the win, the Wildcats, who are the last undefeated Division II team across the country, improved to 23-0 and 14-0 in ECC play while the Knights fell to 9-15 and 5-7 in conference action.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Bill collected his second consecutive double-double with 12 rebounds to pair with his 19 points. Bill also notched three blocks of his own which equaled the total amount of blocks Queens had as a team.
• Redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) tallied 14 points on five-of-six shooting to end the afternoon while he also grabbed a team-high two steals.
• Graduate student guard Matt Becker (Fairfield Conn.) ended the afternoon with 13 points, eight rebounds and a game-high seven assists, one shy of his career high.
• Sophomore guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) tallied 12 points while fellow guards Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) and Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) each scored 11 points each to round out the Wildcats offensive efforts.
• Nasan Ayala led Queens in scoring with 16 points while Jade Tse provided a team-best four assists in the loss.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Daemen and Queens traded scores throughout the first half with Daemen clinging to a one point edge, 20-19, with 9:20 left in the half. The Wildcats gained some breathing room as a Hemphill jumper kicked off a 11-3 run that gave Daemen some breathing room, 31-22, with 6:16 remaining.
• After a pair of Queens free-throw makes, the Wildcats again went on another run, this time a 12-5 spurt ignited by a Glover triple, to push their lead to 14, 43-29, with 2:18 left in the half.
• Both sides exchanged buckets over the final two minutes as Daemen entered the locker room with a 48-36 edge.
• Out of halftime, Queens attempted to chip away at the Daemen lead as they brought the game within 10, 52-42, with 14:56 left in the contest.
• That was as close as Queens got for the remainder of the contest as a pair of Hemphill free-throw makes started a 10-3 spurt that nearly put Daemen ahead by 20, 62-45, with 11:15 left.
• The 'Cats continued to keep the Knights at bay as they went on multiple long scoring runs, highlighted by a 16-4 run during the middle part of the half, to extend their lead to 25, 80-55 with 4:17 remaining.
• Daemen ended the afternoon scoring five of the final nine points of the contest to secure the 91-67 win.
• The Wildcats closed the contest shooting 31-of-55 (.564) and held a 40-21 edge on the glass. Daemen also led the contest in second chance points (16-5), bench points (42-23) and points in the paint (38-16).
• Queens shot 21-of-56 (.375) overall and only tallied 11 assists to Daemen's 21. 

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.
• Today marked the 25th all-time meeting between the two sides. Daemen is now 21-4 all-time against Queens and 12-1 at home.
• Bill joins Hemphill as the only players to notch consecutive double-doubles at any point this season.
• With his two triples today, Mason now ranks fourth all-time for career 3-pointers in ECC history with 307. He is now nine away from tying the program record of 316 set by Jeff Redband.
• Daemen scored 90-or-more points in consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 10-12 when they scored 95 at Molloy and 99 at Queens.
• Bill and Hemphill have now scored 10-or-more points in five consecutive games. Over that span, Bill has averaged 17.0 ppg while Hemphill has averaged 14.2 ppg. Bill also joins Hemphill as the only two Daemen players this season to have consecutive double-doubles.
• Daemen has won every game during the 2025 calendar year by 10-or-more points. 

UP NEXT
The 'Cats will head 20 minutes south to downtown Buffalo to face crosstown rival D'Youville on Feb. 22. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. from the Saints Center Gym.
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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