NCAA Division II East Region Semifinals
No. 4 (#1 seed) Daemen Wildcats (31-1, 16-0 ECC) vs. (#5 seed) Saint Michael's Purple Knights (19-13, 10-8 NE10)
Sunday, March 15 | 7:30 PM | Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
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SEMIFINALS HERE WE COME
For the third consecutive season, the No. 4 ranked Daemen University men's basketball team will play in the NCAA Division II East Region semifinals! The top-seeded Wildcats punched their ticket to the regional semis with a massive 111-78 victory over #8 seed Goldey-Beacom in the quarterfinals on Saturday evening. Daemen is set to face #5 seed Saint Michael's in the second of two semifinal games on Sunday after the Purple Knights upset #4 seed Bentley 78-70 in a comeback victory in the final quarterfinal game of the night.
BIG TIME WIN
Daemen, the top statistical defense in the regional tournament, faced Goldey-Beacom, the top scoring offense in the tournament, in the #1 seed vs. #8 seed quarterfinal game on Saturday. It marked the first ever NCAA Tournament game for the Lightning, who earned an at-large bid to the tournament after advancing to the championship game of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference last weekend. Hosting the regional for the second consecutive season, the top-seeded Wildcats came out swinging early and often, taking an 18-6 lead over the Lighting while the Daemen defense kept Goldey-Beacom from scoring in the double digits for the first nine minutes of the game. The Wildcats led 50-28 at the half, and continued their dominance in the second half. Outscoring the Lightning 61-50 in the second half of the game, the final 12 minutes of the game included every member of Daemen's bench seeing playing time, with the Wildcat bench finishing the game with 42 points. Daemen beat Goldey-Beacom 111-78. An impressive six Daemen players finished with double-digit points, paced by D2CCA Second Team All-Region honoree
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) who totaled 22 points after going 9-of-10 from the field. The Wildcats shot a season-high 64.2 percent from the field, including knocking down 70 points in the paint.
HISTORIC
Daemen's 33-point victory over Goldey-Beacom marked the largest postseason win for the Wildcats in the NCAA Division II era (2015-present) as well as the largest NCAA Tournament victory for Daemen in program history. It also marked the first time since the 2016 ECC semifinal game that the Wildcats have scored over 100 points in a playoff game (103-102 OT win vs. Mercy on March 5, 2016).
ECC WINNERS x2
The Wildcats earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the East Coast Conference Tournament this past weekend for the second year in a row. As the regular season champions and hosts of the tournament, the top-seeded Wildcats advanced to the ECC title game for the sixth straight season with a 73-59 win over #5 seed D'Youville in the semifinals on Saturday night. Sunday's championship game was a Western New York affair as the Wildcats squared off against #6 seed Roberts Wesleyan who punched their ticket to the title game for the first time in program history after knocking off #2 seed St. Thomas Aquinas in their semifinal game. Daemen dominated their longtime rivals from the start and cruised to an 86-66 victory over the Redhawks to bring bring home the hardware yet again. Redshirt junior
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after averaging 22 points per game, while redshirt senior
Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) and junior
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) were each named to the All-Tournament Team.
ALL-REGION CATS
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) and
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) have been named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-East Region Team, the association announced on Thursday morning. The 10-player team consists of the top players in the region, which includes the East Coast Conference (ECC), Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC). Philipkoski earned First Team honors for the first time in his career, while Ben was named to the All-Region team for the second consecutive season, picking up Second Team honors in 2026.
MOST WINS IN PROGRAM HISTORY
With their ECC Championship victory on Sunday, the Wildcats set a record for the most wins in program history with 30, posting a 30-1 record on the year as well as recording their second straight undefeated mark (16-0) in ECC regular season play. Daemen had just one ECC game decided by single digits, and owned a +22.6 points per game scoring margin in all conference games this season. They've won 38 consecutive ECC regular season games, a streak that dates back to February of 2024. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Daemen men's basketball has compiled an outstanding 58-2 overall record.
DAEMEN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Making their third straight and sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats boast a 5-3 record all-time in the East Regional and a 5-4 overall record in the NCAA Tournament. Daemen has advanced to the regional semifinals in each of the past three seasons. In 2024, the Wildcats entered the regional tournament as the #4 seed and took down #5 seed Jefferson (74-66) in the quarterfinal round before falling to #1 seed Saint Michael's (62-86) in the regional semifinals in Colchester, VT. Hosting the East Region tournament in 2025 as the No. 1 team in the country riding a perfect 27-0 record, top-seeded Daemen cruised to an 80-68 win over #8 seed Bridgeport in the quarterfinals, but ran into ECC rival St. Thomas Aquinas for the fourth time in the season in the semifinals. As the #5 seed in the tournament, the surging Spartans mounted a second-half comeback to stun the Wildcats 74-79 and end Daemen's perfect season prematurely. Daemen's first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 2019 where they earned an at-large bid as the #5 seed in the region but fell (67-72) to #4 seed New Haven. The Wildcats' best postseason run came in 2021 where they topped #3 seed Bloomfield (81-69) and beat #1 seed St. Thomas Aquinas 71-70 to win the East Region for the first time in program history and advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. As the #8 seed in the Elite Eight, Daemen fell to #1 seed West Texas A&M (83-97).
ALL-CONFERENCE CATS
Four Wildcats earned All-East Coast Conference accolades and Daemen collected three major awards. Junior guard
Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) was named the ECC Player of the Year, redshirt senior forward
Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) collected ECC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and head coach
Mike MacDonald was named the ECC Coach of the Year. Philipkoski, Hemphill, and redshirt junior center
Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) all earned First Team All-ECC accolades, while senior guard
Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) was named to the Second Team. This marks the 10th season that the Wildcats have earned a major conference award, and the first time that Daemen has earned Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in the same season. The Wildcats previously earned Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in 2025 (
Benjamin Bill) and 2019 (Andrew Sischo), and earned Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 (Sischo POTY and Sean Fasoyiro DPOTY).
ZP FOR THREE
Fresh off the heels of being named the 2026 East Coast Conference Player of the Year, Philipkoski was named to the D2CCA All-East Region First Team for the first time in his career. The 6-foot-4 guard is shooting 50.6 percent from the field and averaging a team-high 17.5 points to go with 7.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. In his impressive junior campaign, Philipkoski is Daemen's biggest threat from beyond the arc and averages 2.3 triples per game (third in the league) and ranks second in the ECC shooting 40 percent from the three-point line. Philipkoski was named to the ECC All-Tournament Team after averaging 15 points and five rebounds per game en route to Daemen's second consecutive ECC Tournament championship this past weekend. He has scored in double figure in all but two games this season, with 12 outings of 20 points or more to his credit. He ranks fourth in scoring, and seventh in rebounding and assists among the ECC's leaders. The third Daemen player to earn ECC Player of the Year honors over six years, Philipkoski scored his 1,000th career point in the ECC final on Sunday. He becomes the third Wildcat to earn First Team All-D2CCA honors, joining Bill (2025) and Andrew Sischo (2019, 20, 21, 22). Philipkoski was named to the Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List this season.
BIG MAN BEN BILL
Bill earned D2CCA All-Region honors for the second year in a row, being named to the D2CCA Second Team in 2026. Daemen's big man returned to the Wildcat lineup after being named the 2025 ECC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American and picked up right where he left off last season, earning ECC weekly awards three times early in the year before suffering an injury. The 6-foot-10 center left Daemen's game at Mercy on Dec. 12 and missed the next 11 games. He returned to the lineup Jan. 31 vs. Roberts Wesleyan and reached double figures in seven of the last nine games. Surging in the latter part of the season, Bill has posted seven double-doubles and is averaging 16.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting an impressive 65.8 percent from the field and was named the 2026 Most Outstanding Player of the ECC Tournament. The Daemen big man was named to the Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List for the second straight season. Bill becomes the fourth Wildcat to earn Second Team D2CCA honors, joining
Justin Hemphill (2025), Sean Fasoyiro (2024) and Torrence Dyck (2016).
JUSTIN "SWISS ARMY KNIFE" HEMPHILL
Justin Hemphill continues to impress in his redshirt senior season, becoming the fifth Daemen player to earn ECC Defensive Player of the Year along with earning First Team honors for the second straight season. A five-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week and one-time Player of the Week honoree this season, Hemphill ranks fourth in the conference averaging a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game while adding 11.9 points, 5.2 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.9 steals per game. The Buffalo, N.Y. native recorded his 1,000th career point on Nov. 18 over #5 Fairmont State, becoming the 29th player in team history to reach this milestone. He ranks 15th in points, third in blocked shots and fifth in steals, rebounds and assists among Daemen's all-time leaders. Hemphill is now the only player in program history with at least 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists. He is presently the only player to rank among the ECC's top five leaders in rebounds (2nd), assists (3rd), blocks (4th) and steals (5th). Hemphill has also posted a team-best nine double-doubles this season, and his 13-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist outing vs. Mercy on Feb. 13 marked the first triple-double by a Daemen player since Dec. 17, 2014 (Gerald Beverly vs. St. Thomas (Fla.)). On Sunday, Hemphill was named to the Trevor Hudgins Top 15 Award Watch List, an award gifted to a player with the most outstanding collegiate career in small college basketball. He was named to the ECC All-Tournament Team after averaging 11.5 points and eight rebounds per game.
J GLOVE
Justin Glover was named to the Second Team All-ECC for the second consecutive season. In his senior campaign, Glover ranks fourth on the team offensively with 11.2 points per game while shooting 38.8 percent from the field as well as a 37.6 percent three-point shooting percentage. The Buffalo, N.Y. native ranks 5th in the ECC with 2.2 three-point field goals per game, scoring multiple triples in 20 games on the year. Glover has scored in the double digits in 17 matches this season, knocking down a season-high 20 points against Staten Island on Jan. 11. During Daemen's 90-65 win over D'Youville on Jan. 24, Glover became the 30th player in team history to reach the 1,000 point milestone. In his third season as a full-time starter, Glover has appeared in 114 games with 91 starts to his credit, and he now ranks 25th in career scoring (1,081 points) and ninth in career three-pointers (175) among Daemen's all-time leaders.
MAC ATTACK
Leading the Wildcats on another storybook season, head coach
Mike MacDonald is named ECC Coach of the Year honors for the third time after guiding Daemen to another undefeated ECC season (16-0) en route to the No. 4 ranked Wildcats' 30-1 record season mark. Daemen became the first ECC team since Philadelphia University (1993-94) to tally back-to-back undefeated conference records. The Wildcats earned their fourth ECC regular season title in program history, collected their second straight ECC Tournament title and has the program record for wins (30). Under MacDonald's leadership, the Wildcats have won 38 consecutive ECC regular season games and a 58-2 overall record in the past two seasons. Ranked fourth in the final NABC coaches' poll, Daemen has been ranked in the top-5 for 27 consecutive polls.
HOME, SWEET HOME
The Wildcats really have a home court advantage at Lumsden Gymnasium! Since becoming a full fledged NCAA Division II member in the 2015-16 season, the Wildcats have mounted an impressive 127-17 record at home for a 88.1% win percentage. In that stretch, Daemen has lost one or fewer home games in six seasons. This season, the Wildcats have a perfect 17-0 home record. Over the last three seasons, Daemen has a 47-2 home record. In those two losses (74-79 to St. Thomas Aquinas in 2025 East Region semifinal; 62-71 to Staten Island in 2024 ECC game), the Wildcats lost by an average of just seven points.
DEFENSIVE MINDED
Daemen's success this season has been rooted at the defensive end of the court, where they're allowing just 65.8 points per game, ranking 17th nationally. Daemen's stingy defense includes the best shot-blocking numbers in Division II, averaging 5.8 blocks per contest. They also own a +9.7 rebounding margin per game (fourth in Division II) and are holding opponents to just 39.5 percent field-goal shooting (ninth in Division II).
UP NEXT
The winner of #1 Daemen and #5 Saint Michael's will face the winner of #2 Felician and #3 Saint Anselm in the East Region Final on Tuesday, March 17 at 7 PM.
SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
Coming into the NCAA Tournament as the #5 seed with an 18-13 overall record after going 10-8 in the Northeast 10 regular season, the Purple Knights have been surging as of late, advancing to the NE10 Tournament Championship. As the #6 seed in the conference tournament, Saint Michael's knocked off #3 seed Pace (54-48) in the first round, #7 seed Southern New Hampshire (81-72 in OT) in the semifinals to advance to the title game for the first time since 2001. The Purple Knights run ended just short against #1 seed Saint Anselm in the championship (75-69), but the season was not over as SMC earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking their 14th appearance in the tournament and second in three seasons after hosting the 2024 East Regional. Averaging 73.6 points per game while shooting 40.9 percent from the field, the Purple Knights are led offensively by freshman guard Quintin Floyd (13.1 ppg) who has lit up the competition in their postseason run, averaging 19.3 points while shooting 55 percent from the field. Zocko Littleton (11.9 ppg), Greg Kenney (10.9 ppg, 6 rpg) and Latiek Briscoe Jr. (10.7 ppg) all chip in offensively as well.
SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 5-2 all-time against the Purple Knights but 0-1 in the postseason. Daemen and Saint Michael's met in the 2024 East Region semifinals, hosted by the Purple Knights, where the #1 seeded Saint Michael's defeated the #4 seeded Wildcats 86-62.
