GAME 25 - Daemen vs Roberts Wesleyan | Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium | March 1 | 4 p.m.
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SENIOR DAY
The No. 1/2 Daemen University men's basketball team will wrap up their 2024-25 regular season on Saturday at 4 p.m. when they welcome local rival Roberts Wesleyan to Lumsden Gymnasium. Prior to the game, the Wildcats will honor graduate students
Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.),
Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) and
Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) for senior day.
STILL NO. 1
For the second consecutive week, Daemen was ranked No. 1 in the country as they topped the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll with 391 points and 11 of a possible 16 first-place votes. Additionally, the Wildcats held their No. 2 ranking in the latest Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) National Poll with 302 points and five first-place votes. One of two undefeated teams left across all of Division I, II and III along with Wesleyan (Ct.) (Division III), the Wildcats topped the NABC poll for the second consecutive week. Sitting close below the Wildcats with 388 points and five first-place votes is Nova Southeastern (Sunshine State) while Alabama Huntsville (GSC) closed out the top three with 371 points. Daemen is the first Division I or II school from New York to be ranked No. 1 for two-or-more consecutive weeks since Division I Syracuse was ranked No. 1 in three consecutive AP Polls from Feb. 3 - Feb. 17, 2014.
O
N THE EDGE OF HISTORY
Daemen is one win away from becoming just the sixth team in ECC history to go undefeated during the regular season. The last team to accomplish the feat was C.W. Post during the 2008-09 campaign as they finished the year 30-1 with their lone loss in the Elite Eight against Findlay in overtime. C.W. Post also went undefeated during the 1989-90 campaign as well. Other schools form the ECC to go undefeated during the regular season include Adelphi (2000-01) and Philadelphia U. (now Jefferson) (1992-93 &1993-94), both of which are no longer apart of the conference.
A STEP ABOVE
Daemen currently leads the NCAA in field goal percentage defense at .370. The Wildcats currently rank second nationally in both bench points per game (39.5), rebound margin (11.0) and scoring margin (22.6). The 'Cats scoring defense currently ranks third for scoring defense (62.3) and fifth in assists per game (19.3). Individually, redshirt sophomore center
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) ranks second nationally in field goal percentage (.717) while graduate student guard
Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) leads the conference and is 39th in the NCAA for assist/turnover ratio at 2.41.
BIG THREE
Graduate students
Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.),
Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) and
Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) have started all 24 games for Daemen this year. The trio are the only three Daemen players to appear in 100-or-more collegiate games. All three have combined for 576 points and represent 28 percent of the Wildcats total scoring this season. All three are also ranked within the top five on the Wildcats this season for total 3-pointers as well.
SCOUTING ROBERTS WESLEYAN (10-15, 7-8 ECC)
The Redhawks won their final home game of the year with a 69-55 victory over D'Youville this past Wednesday and secured a berth to the 2025 ECC Men's Basketball Championship with their seed still to be determined. Graduate student guard Malik Brooks has continued to lead the Redhawks in scoring with 22.2 points per game while on the glass, junior guard Arnardo Camacho has hauled in a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game.
SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 52-12 all-time against Roberts Wesleyan and have won the last 10 consecutive meetings.
UP NEXT
Daemen is idle until March 8 when they will play the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the 2025 ECC Men's Basketball Championship. Tip-off from Lumsden Gymnasium is set for 5 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 Daemen Athletics on X, Facebook and Instagram at @DaemenAthletics; Follow Daemen Women's Basketball on X and Instagram at @DaemenWBB; Follow Daemen Men's Basketball on X, Facebook and Instagram at @DaemenMBB.
