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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
J_Atkins_NCAA_RegionalvsSMC
62
Daemen Daemen 25-9,12-4 ECC
86
Winner Saint Michael's SMC 24-8,17-5 NE10
Daemen Daemen
25-9,12-4 ECC
62
Final
86
Saint Michael's SMC
24-8,17-5 NE10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Daemen Daemen 31 31 62
Saint Michael's SMC 47 39 86

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

Wildcats Fall To Top-Seeded Purple Knights In NCAA East Region Semifinals

Daemen Closes Out The Year With A NCAA Division II-Era Record 25 Wins

COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Daemen University men's basketball team saw its 2023-24 season come to an end following an 86-62 loss to top-seeded Saint Michael's College this evening in the East Region semifinal of the 2024 NCAA Division II Championship. The game was played before a crowd of 1,401 at Ross Athletic Center on the Saint Michael's campus.

Daemen, which was looking to advance to the regional championship game for the second time in the past four years, finishes the year with a 25-9 record. The 25 wins are a NCAA Division II-era (2015-present) record for the Wildcats. Saint Michael's, which won the Northeast-10 Conference regular season title, improves to 24-8 and will host conference rival Southern New Hampshire University in the regional championship game Tuesday night. SNHU advanced to the finals following a 69-64 win over Post University in tonight's other semifinal game.

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Senior Dylan Fasoyiro (Houston, Tex.) led the Wildcats with 12 points. He closes out the year with a team-high 483 points (17.3 ppg).
  • Senior Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) went 3-of-6 from downtown and added 10 points. He finished the season with a team-high 82 three-pointers.
  • Sophomore Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) added nine points and three steals, while senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) chipped in eight points and four boards.
  • Tonight's game marked the final collegiate game for graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) and fifth-year senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.).
  • Atkins totaled three points, five rebounds and two steals tonight. He played in 104 collegiate games (89 at Daemen) and totaled 872 points, 512 rebounds, 111 steals and 144 blocks.
  • MacDonald contributed 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal tonight. He played two seasons at Division I Niagara University and three seasons at Daemen. He played in 143 games over his career (91 at Daemen) and totaled 1,119 points, 364 rebounds and 173 three-pointers. He also shot .875 (224-256) from the free throw line over his career.
  • Four different players scored in double figures for the Purple Knights. Junior guard CJ Crews went 4-of-9 from downtown and totaled 16 points. Sophomore guard Alan Brzezinski made three triples and added 15 points, while senior guard Romar Reid went 4-of-7 from downtown and totaled 14 points and five assists. Sophomore forward Nolan Marold added 14 points and eight rebounds.

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen was making its fourth overall appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship and its first since the 2021 season. Daemen earned three consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament berths from 2019 to 2021. Daemen posted 20 wins in 2021-22 and 2022-23, but was denied an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament each year.
  • Daemen has reached 20 wins for the sixth-straight season. The streak does not include the 2020-21 season, as Daemen only played 16 games during that COVID-10 shortened 2020-21 season.
  • Saint Michael's, which entered the game ranked 11th among Division II teams in three-pointers per game (10.5), used the long ball to jump out to a big early lead. The Purple Knights went 6-for-13 from behind the arc over the first 10:18 of the game en route to a 28-9 lead.
  • Daemen chipped away at the lead with a 16-10 run and cut it to 13 points, 38-25, after Fasoyiro made two free throws with 2:54 left before halftime, but the Purple Knights outscored the Wildcats 9-6 over the final 2:16 of the half and the hosts took a 47-31 lead into halftime.
  • Any chance of a Daemen comeback was put to rest early in the second half, as the Purple Knights opened the second stanza with an 18-6 run and took a 65-37 lead after Crews hit a three-pointer with 13:01 left to play. The Wildcats came no closer than 24 points the rest of the way.
  • Daemen, which shot 51-percent in its quarterfinal win over Jefferson University last night and entered the game shooting 47-percent from the field on the year, shot a season-low 36-percent (21-of-58) from the field tonight. The Wildcats made just 5-of-21 from downtown and canned just 15-of-28 from the charity stripe.
  • Saint Michael's, which entered the game shooting just 42-percent from the field for the year, shot a season-high 54-percent (32-of-59) tonight. The Purple Knights also made a season-high 17 three-pointers in the game (17-of-36) and made 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
     

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 men's basketball program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.
 
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