Top-Seeded No. 1/2 Men's Basketball Prepares for St. Thomas Aquinas in ECC Championship Game

3/8/2025 11:00:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Max Sacco, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | msacco@daemen.edu

THE BRACKET

FOR THE 'CHIP
The No. 1/2 Daemen University men's basketball team will face St. Thomas Aquinas in the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship for the fifth consecutive season at 3:30 p.m. on March 9. The last four meetings between the Wildcats and Spartans took place in Sparkill, N.Y. This will also mark the first time that Daemen will host the final round of the ECC Tournament as well.

ALL-ECC 'CATS
Daemen collected two major honors and had four players collect all-conference accolades, the league office announced Thursday afternoon. Redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) was named the East Coast Conference Player of the Year while head coach Mike MacDonald was named the ECC Coach of the Year. Additionally, the reigning 2024-25 ECC Regular Season Champions had four all-conference honorees with Bill and redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) tabbed to the first team, junior guard Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) was named to the second team and sophomore guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) placed on the third team. Bill collected all-conference honors and player of the year honors for the first time in his career after missing last season. The Hamburg, N.Y., native is the first Daemen player to be tabbed player of the year since Andrew Sischo won the award during the 2021-22 season for the fourth consecutive year. Bill ended the regular season ranked third nationally and the ECC leader in field goal percentage at .730. The redshirt sophomore leads the 'Cats and ranks fourth in the ECC for both points per game (16.8) and total points (421). Bill has scored 10-or-more points in all but three games and on seven occasions, notched a double-double. Bill has also excelled on the defensive side of the ball this year as he leads Daemen and ranks 22^nd nationally in blocks per game with 1.92 and 31^st nationally for total blocks with 31.

Hemphill collected all-conference honors for the second consecutive year after getting tabbed to the third team last season. The Buffalo, N.Y., led the Wildcats in total assists (98), total rebounds (186) and steals (38). One of four players to start all 25 games, Hemphill ranked sixth in the ECC with his 98 assists and in assists per game with an average of 3.9 while ranking third in field goal percentage at .530. Hemphill finished in double-figures in 17 games this season, highlighted by a 22-point outing against St. Michael's on Dec. 21, and notched a team-best eight double-doubles, highlighted by a 16 point, 11 assist and eight rebound outing against then No. 21/7 Gannon on Jan. 18.

Glover earned All-ECC Second Team honors for the first time in his career and collected all-conference honors for the second consecutive year. One of four players along with Hemphill to start all 25 games this year, Glover ranks fourth on the squad in points per game (9.2) and total points (231), third in 3-pointers (41), second in steals (30) and is the team leader in minutes per game with an average of 26.9. The St. Joe's product dropped 10-or-more points on 12 occasions and against St. Thomas Aquinas on Dec. 13, scored a season-high 20 points on eight-of-nine shooting and was four-of-five from deep.

Philipkoski collected All-ECC Third Team honors for the first time in his career. The sophomore guard ranked third on the Wildcats in points per game (10.2), free-throw percentage (.780) and total assists (68), fourth in 3-pointers (29), rebounds per game (5.1), total rebounds (118) and total steals (25) and helped the Daemen bench rank second nationally in bench points per game with an average of 38.6 ppg. Philipkoski finished with 10-or-more points on 11 occasions and dropped a season-high 22 points against D'Youville (Jan. 16). The New Hartford, N.Y., tallied a career-best seven assists against Roberts Wesleyan (March 1) and notched two double-doubles this year (Dec. 6 at Staten Island & Feb. 22 at D'Youville). The sophomore guard ended the regular season ranked second in the ECC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.2.

Head coach Mike MacDonald earned coach of the year honors after leading the Wildcats to one of the best seasons in program history. The longtime Wildcats head coach led Daemen to an undefeated 25-0 record and became the first team since C.W. Post during the 2008-09 campaign to go undefeated during the regular season. MacDonald also led the Wildcats to a No. 1 national ranking for three consecutive weeks, the first Division I or II school in New York to accomplish the feat since Syracuse was ranked No. 1 in three consecutive AP Polls from Feb. 3 - Feb. 17, 2014. The Wildcats, who have been ranked top five in at least one national poll since Dec. 17, claimed their third ECC Regular Season Title in program history and earned 20-or-more wins for the the seventh consecutive full season under MacDonald, the longest such streak of any Western New York school.

THE EAST RUNS THROUGH AMHERST, N.Y.
The Wildcats topped the final NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, as released by the regional advisory committee through games completed by March 2. The East Region consists of the top teams from the East Coast Conference, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the Northeast-10 Conference, and the regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following conference tournaments this weekend. Daemen (25- 0) topped the East Region for the second consecutive week with NE-10 schools Adelphi (25-4) and Pace (23-6) rounding out the top three in second and third respectively. Southern New Hampshire (19-8/NE-10) were tabbed fourth while Dominican (N.Y.) landed in fifth (19-7/CACC).

HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT
Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas have faced off in the ECC Men's Basketball Championships for the last four seasons and in 2021 also battled one another in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship East Region Finals during the 2020-21 campaign. That season, Daemen dropped the ECC Championship to STAC, 83-67, but avenged the loss with a 71-70 win in the East Region Finals to punch their ticket to the Elite Right for the first time in the program's NCAA era. Daemen swept the regular season series this year for the first time since the 2013-14 season. The Wildcats have won three of the last four meetings between the two longtime rivals as well.

HISTORIC TRIPLES
With his four 3-pointers against Staten Island (March 8) in the ECC Men's Basketball Semifinal, graduate student guard Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) passed Jeff Redband for the program record in triples with 319. Mason now ranks third all-time in the ECC for 3-pointers as well. Since his sophomore, Mason has hit at least 50 shots from deep each year, highlighted by a career-best 82 during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns.

SCOUTING ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (23-8, 13-3 ECC)
The Spartans defeated Queens in their last game, 91-82, to advance to the ECC Championship and face Daemen for the fifth consecutive year. Luis Risquez led St. Thomas Aquinas in scoring with 24 points while Shaun Arnold nabbed a team-best 11 boards. This year, the Spartans landed Hartnel Haye on the All-ECC First Team and Shaun Arnold, Derrick James and Risquez on the second team. For Arnold, he was also tabbed the ECC Defensive Player of the Year as well.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen is 13-22 all-time against St. Thomas Aquinas and 7-6 at home agains the Spartans.

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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