by COLCHESTER, VT. – Redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) and graduate student guard Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) each set new season-highs in scoring as they propeled the No. 4/6 Daemen University men’ s basketball team over Saint Michael’s, 69-61, in the final day of the 2024 Doc Jacobs Classic Saturday afternoon at the Ross Sports Center.
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 11-0 while the Purple Knights fell to 4-9. Daemen is now one of five remaining undefeated teams in the nation as well.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Hemphill and Salzburg each set new season-highs in scoring with 22 and 15 points respectively. Hemphill also led the ‘Cats on the glass with a game-high eight rebounds.
• For Salzburg, he connected on four shots from deep on seven attempts to lead the Wildcats efforts from beyond the arc.
• Graduate student forward Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) dished out a game-high six assists while redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) notched a team-high two blocks. Both big men also tallied nine points in the win.
• Graduate student guard Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to move into sole possession of second place all-time for career 3-pointers with 281.
• Abdur-Rahman De Leon led the Purple Knights in scoring with 18 points while his teammate, Nolan Marold, hauled in seven rebounds.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Down 10-5 early, the Wildcats took their first lead of the game as a Hemphill make from the charity stripe ignited a 7-0 spurt that pushed Daemen ahead, 12-10.
• Both sides exchanged scored during the middle part of the frame and found themselves tied 23-23 with less than six minutes to play. The Wildcats toom over as they scoreds 13 of the final 15 points of the first half to enter the locker room ahead, 36-25. Buffalo natives Hemphill and junior guard Justin Glover combined to score eight of the final 13 points of the half for the Blue and White.
• After trading buckets to begin the second half, the Purple Knights flipped the game to their favor as a 3-pointer from De Leon uncorked a 16-2 run that put the hosts ahead, 46-45, with 10:26 to play.
• Daemen reclaimed the lead for good soon after as Hemphill notched back-to-back layups during a 9-3 run for the ‘Cats that made it 54-49.
• The Owls attempted one last push to upset the Blue and White as they cut the Wildcats advantage down to as little as five, 64-59, with 1:47 to play. Still, the Blue and White were unfazed as they sealed the game with a pair of late free-throw makes and a Hemphill layup.
• Daemen went 24-of-56 (.429) from the field and knocked down seven triples to end the afternoon. The Wildcats also dominated the paint as they outscored Saint Michael’s. 34-8.
• Saint Michaels’s shot .346 (18-of-52) from the floor but were near perfect on the free-throw line, going 17-of-19.
