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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Andrew Mason dribbles the ball
85
Winner Daemen Daemen 24-0,15-0 ECC
77
D'Youville DYO 8-16,6-9 ECC
Winner
Daemen Daemen
24-0,15-0 ECC
85
Final
77
D'Youville DYO
8-16,6-9 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Daemen Daemen 34 37 14 85
D'Youville DYO 31 40 6 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Top-Ranked 'Cats Work Overtime To Outlast Saints

Daemen Keeps Unblemished Overall, Conference Records Intact

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Four players scored in double figures as the No. 1/2 Daemen University men's basketball team outlasted upset-minded D'Youville University 85-77 in overtime before a raucous, standing room only crowd at the Saints Center Gym. 

Daemen, which entered the contest as the lone remaining unbeaten team across NCAA Division II, improved to 24-0 overall and 15-0 in ECC play. It marked Daemen's first overtime game of the season, and just their second decided by less than points. The Wildcats came into the game with an average victory margin of 23.3 points per game - second best in the country.

D'Youville dropped to 8-16 overall and 6-9 in conference play. It was just the Saints' second loss in their last eight games. 
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) and Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) hit some of the game's biggest shots, and finished with 15 points each to lead Daemen. The duo combined for five of Daemen's eight three-pointers, and accounted for 18 of the team's final 24 points. Philipkoski added 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, and the third of his career.
  • Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) narrowly missed his third consecutive double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.
  • Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) chipped in 11 points, nine boards, four steals and three assists, while additional production came from Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.), Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) and Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.). Glover nailed a huge three-points in overtime, and finished with nine points. Salzberg added a pair of three-pointers as part of an eight-point outing, and Becker added a team-high five assists and six rebounds. 
  • Justin Moore paced four double-figure scorers for the Saints, finishing with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting. TI Scruggs and Noah Hutchins chipped in 14 points apiece.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Daemen took a 34-31 lead into the halftime break following a hotly contested 20 minutes of play that saw no more than six points of separation between the two teams. The Wildcats dominated the interior, posting a 24-4 advantage in points in the paint and a +16 rebounding edge (27-11), but the Saints canned 7-of-12 from three-point range, including two that banked in off the glass, to keep things tight. 
  • After a D'Youville traveling violation with 1.5 seconds left in the opening half, Daemen's long inbounds pass caromed off the backboard and right to the awaiting hands of Bill who laid it up for two. 
  • Daemen opened up a nine-point lead just over three minutes into the second half, but D'Youville came storming back after a timeout. The teams went on to trade the lead four times in the second half.
  • With the score knotted at 61-61, Philipkoski nailed a three-pointer with 4:29 to go, sparking an 8-1 spurt that put Daemen ahead by seven (69-62) with under 2:40 to go. The Saints would not go away, however, and they came storming back again, closing regulation on a 10-2 run to force overtime. A corner three-pointer by Elisha Warren with nine seconds left evened the score at 71-71. Daemen had three chances to the lead, but never got a shot away in the waning seconds.
  • Mason opened the overtime period with a three-pointer of his own, and then, after a pull-up jumper by Moore, Glover nailed another Daemen triple, this one as the shot clock was expiring, putting the Wildcats ahead 77-73. 
  • Later, with D'Youville trailing 79-75, the Saints forced a missed Daemen three-pointer late in the shot clock, but Bill was right there to tip in the offensive rebound, giving the Wildcats a six-point advantage. Moore missed a three-pointer on DYU's next possession and the Saints were forced to foul. Philipkoski went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final minute to dispell any thoughts of another Saints comeback.

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen made history earlier this week when they ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll. It marks the first time any Division I or II team from a Western New York university has been ranked atop a national poll. Daemen joins Buffalo State, which has topped the Division III national poll several times - most recently during the 1989-90 season - as the only Western New York schools to ever reach No. 1 in their respective national polls. Daemen is also just the second ECC team ever to reach the No. 1 national ranking, joining Adelphi who did so in six consecutive polls during the 2000-01 season. 
  • Daemen picked up a sweep of the season series with the crosstown rival Saints. It marked the 17th win in as many all-time meetings dating back to the 1987-88 season. Eleven of those meetings have occurred since 2020 when D'Youville began its ascent into Division II and the ECC. Just three of those last 11 meetings have been decided by less than 10 points. 
  • With his three triples today, Mason has totaled 310 in his career. He is now six away from tying the program record of 316 set by Jeff Redband. Mason also surpassed Kharmen Wingard for 13th place on Daemen's all-time scoring list (1,296 career points). 
  • The eight-point margin of victory was tied for Daemen's closest of the game of the season. They also won by eight (69-61) at St. Michael's College on Dec. 21. 

UP NEXT
Daemen returns home to Lumsden Gymnasium to face rival Roberts Wesleyan University in their regular season finale next Saturday, March 1 with tip-off slated for 4 p.m. The Wildcats be bidding to become the first ECC team to make it through the regular season undefeated since C.W. Post did so in 2008-09. 

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 X and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.
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