AMHERST, N.Y. -- Daemen University men's basketball standouts
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) and
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) have been elevated to the
Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List, announced on Friday by Small College Basketball. Bill and Philipkoski were two of three Wildcats represented in the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List announced in January along with
Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.).
A national organization that spotlights the achievements of non-NCAA Division I men's basketball teams and student-athletes,
Small College Basketball has presented the Bevo Francis Award annually to the player deemed to have had the finest overall season. The award is named for the former basketball star at Rio Grande College who averaged 50.1 points per game during the 1952-53 season.
Bill, a 6-foot-10 redshirt junior center, made his return to the Daemen lineup at the end of January after missing 11 games with a lower body injury. Despite missing a month of play, the Daemen big man ranks second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting a team-high 67.5 percent (102-of-151) from the field over 16 games this season. Bill has also recorded six double-doubles. The redshirt junior was named to the all-tournament team at both the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic and the East Region Challenge, and has been named East Coast Conference Player of the Week on two occasions this season.
This is the second consecutive season that Bill has appeared on the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 list. He advanced to the award's Top 25 watch list last season when he was named a consensus All-American and the ECC Player of the Year.
In his breakout junior campaign, Philipkoski continues to shine, leading the Wildcats with 17.2 points per game while shooting 50.5 percent (156-of-309) from the field. He is the Wildcats' biggest three-point threat, leading Daemen with 60 triples on the season. The 6-foot-4 junior ranks third on the team at the boards with 7.2 rebounds per game and is doling out 3.7 assists per game along with 41 steals and 26 blocks on the year. A three-time ECC Player of the Week and one-time Defensive Player of the Week, Philipkoski has scored 20+ points in 10 games this season and has recorded three double-doubles. The junior ranks fifth in scoring, sixth in rebounding and seventh in assists among the ECC's leaders.
Bill and Philipkoski have the Wildcats ranked in the top five of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II poll for the 24th consecutive week, coming in at No. 4. Daemen is 26-1 on the year and remain undefeated, 14-0, in ECC play this season, securing the program's second consecutive and fourth overall ECC regular season title this past weekend with wins over Mercy (86-60) and St. Thomas Aquinas (82-67). The Wildcats are riding a 36 game ECC win streak, dating back to February of 2024. Daemen is outscoring its opponents by an average of 16.8 points per game and rank 20th nationally (and first among ECC teams) in scoring defense, allowing just 65.8 points per game.
The Wildcats are one of three teams to have two players named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List, joining fellow nationally-ranked Division II teams Nova Southeastern (No. 1) and Washburn (No. 3).
Small College Basketball will continue the Bevo Francis Award process with the announcement of the Top 25 (Mar. 15) Watch List. Finalists for the award will be revealed on April 4, and the award recipient will be crowned on April 6.
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.
