AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen University student-athletes
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) and
Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) each received recognition with the announcement of East Coast Conference men's basketball weekly awards today, covering games played from Jan. 5-11. Philipkoski was named the ECC Player of the Week, while Nwugwo earned ECC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Both Philipkoski and Nwugwo played important roles in leading No. 2 Daemen (18-0, 6-0 ECC) to three wins last week. The Wildcats picked up a non-conference road win at Franklin Pierce (78-72) on Jan. 5, and followed that by downing ECC foes District of Columbia (85-47, Jan. 9) and Staten Island (88-70, Jan. 11).
Philipkoski, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, averaged 19.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 blocks across the three Daemen wins, shooting 60 percent from the field (18-for-30), 53.3 percent from three-point range (8-for-15) and 93.3 percent from the free throw line (14-for-15) in the process. After scoring 20 points to go with a game-high five assists vs. FPU, he netted 10 points and recorded six boards, three assists and three blocks in just 24 minutes of action vs. UDC. His signature performance of the week came Sunday when he shot 10-for-13 from the field and scored a season-high 28 points while also grabbing nine rebounds in the win over CSI.
Today's announcement marks Philipkoski's third ECC Player of the Week selection ths season. He leads Daemen in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per outing, and is also contributing 7.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists, and shooting 53 percent from the field. He ranks fifth in scoring, rebounding and assists, and sixth in field goal percentage among the ECC leaders.
Nwugwo becomes the fourth Daemen player to garner ECC Defensive Player of the Week honors this season, and it marks the first weekly honor of his career. The 6-foot-6 redshirt junior averaged 2.7 blocks per game last week, playing a leading role in helping Daemen limit their three opponents to an average of 63.0 points per game. He set a new career benchmark by blocking five shots in Friday's win over UDC.
Nwugwo has been an important cog for Daemen this season, especially since being inserted into the starting lineup in place of injured All-American center
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) who has been out since mid-December. Over the last nine games, Nwugwo is averaging 12.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 55.6 percent from the field.
As a team, Daemen has had the ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection in seven out of eight weeks this season. The Wildcats lead the ECC in scoring defense (64.6 points per game allowed), field goal percentage defense (.394), rebounds per game (41.7) and rebounding margin (+11.6).
Philipkoski, Nwugwo and the rest of the undefeated Wildcats are back in action this weekend with ECC road games at Queens (Jan. 16, 7:30 p.m.) and Molloy (Jan. 18, 2:30 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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