Philipkoski Named ECC Rookie of the Week

Rookie Totaled 34 Points And 13 Rebounds In A Win Over Mercy

1/22/2024 3:34:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. – Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) of the Daemen University men's basketball team has been honored by the East Coast Conference for his play in recent games. Philipkoski was selected as the ECC Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week for games played between Jan. 15-21. The announcement of award winners was made via the league's weekly sport report, which was released this afternoon.

Philipkoski becomes the first Daemen player to be selected ECC Rookie of the Week since current teammate Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) collected the honor twice during the 2020-21 season. It also marks the ninth time this season a Daemen player has been selected for a major weekly award. Graduate student Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) is a four-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week, senior Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) is a one-time Player of the Week and two-time Defensive Player of the Week honoree, and senior Nick MacDonald (Amherst, N.Y.) is a one-time Player of the Week selection.

Philipkoski averaged a team-high 24.0 points and 9.5 rebounds over two games last week. He made his first career start and contributed 14 points and a team-high six rebounds in a 92-82 loss at nationally ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College on Friday night. He then erupted for a season-high 34 points and a season-high 13 rebounds—his first career double-double--in a season-high 34 minutes during an 84-59 win at Mercy University on Sunday. He connected on 11-of-16 shots against Mercy and went 15-of-22 (68%) from the field overall and 8-of-13 from downtown over the two games.

The 34 points against Mercy ties him for the most points in a game by a freshman this season among all NCAA Division II programs. Fellow rookies Cortaviaus Seales of Western New Mexico and Chase Potter Westminster University also scored 34 points this season. The 34 points are also the most scored by a Daemen player since Andrew Sischo scored 35 during an ECC Tournament semifinal win over Molloy University on March 5, 2022. Philipkoski also becomes the first Daemen freshman to score 30 points since Sischo netted 36 in a 102-98 double overtime win over Molloy on Feb. 16, 2018.

Philipkoski has played in all 19 games (two starts) this season and is averaging 10.9 minutes, 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He leads the team in both overall field goal percentage (34-53/.642) and three-point field goal percentage (16-26/.615). He has scored in double figures in three of the last four games and has averaged 16.5 minutes, 10.1 points and 5.6 rebounds over the last seven games.

He is a 2023 graduate of New Hartford High School and was named the N.Y. Sportswriters Association's Class A Boys Basketball Player of the Year as a senior when he averaged 25.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while leading the New Hartford Spartans to the state semifinals. That came on the heels of a stellar junior season in which he averaged 22.8 points per game while leading the Spartans to the Class A state final and earned First Team All-State honors. He finished his prep career with 1,850 points, shattering the prior school record by more than 400 points.

Daemen (13-6, 3-3 ECC) is ranked eighth in this week's D2 College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Region poll. The Wildcats return to action this weekend when they host Molloy University (Jan. 26) and Queens College (Jan. 28) in ECC games.

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, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.

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