AMHERST, N.Y. – For the second time in program history, the Daemen University men's basketball team defeated a Division I program as they stunned the University at Buffalo, 67-61, in a men's basketball exhibition contest Wednesday evening at Alumni arena.
 
The victory over the Bulls is the first win for the Wildcats over a Division I program since they defeated Canisius University, 83-81, in overtime on Nov. 11, 2014. Daemen and Buffalo have played each other the past four seasons and nine times with head coach Mike MacDonald at the helm.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Junior guard Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points while redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) and graduate student guard Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) chipped in 12 points each. For Bill, he also shot an efficient 6-of-10 (.600) from the floor in the upset victory. 
• On the glass, redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) collected a team-high seven boards with Bill tallying five of his own. Hemphill also nabbed a team-high four steals in the win.
• Sophomore guard Ryan Heath (Rochester, N.Y.) provided nine points of his own to pair with a game-high five assists. 
• Tyson Dunn led Buffalo in scoring with 21 points while on the glass, Ryan Sabol and Noah Batchelor each collected eight rebounds for the Bulls in the loss. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS
• After trading buckets during the opening five minutes of the contest, the Wildcats tallied seven of the next ten points, with Bill notching four points of his own, and expanded the Cats lead to five, 17-12, with 11:04 left in the half.
• The two Amherst-based schools traded buckets over the next several minutes, but a 3-pointer from Josh Haskell (West Seneca, N.Y.) pushed the Wildcats lead to a half-best eight points with 3:12 remaining in the stanza. Despite a late push from the Bulls, the Wildcats entered halftime with a 28-26 lead.
• Buffalo opened the second half with a pair of consecutive baskets to take their first lead of the game since they were ahead 2-0, but an ensuring 12-4 run followed by a later 13-5 spurt from the Wildcats helped them reclaim the lead, 55-46, with 8:02 left in the contest.
• The Bulls attempted one last comback and used a 12-6 spurt to cut the Wildcats lead to just three, 61-58, with 1:18 to play.
• Still, Daemen weathered the storm and secured the upset win with four late free-throw makes with two tallies each from Salzberg and sophomore guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) at the line.
• Daemen closed the contest shooting 27-of-61 (.443) and sunk nine 3-pointers while dishing out 21 assists compared to just seven for Buffalo. The Wildcats defense forced 22 turnovers from the Bulls which turned into 17 points while collecting 33 rebounds in the win. The Wildcats only attemped five free-throws all contest, going four-of-five, with four of the five coming in the final two minutes of action.
• Buffalo shot 22-of-53 (.415) from the field and only tallied seven assists. The Bulls were sent to the line 12 times, going 9-of-12 (.750) in the loss. On the glass, Buffalo edged the Daemen by one, collecting 34 rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
Daemen opens the regular season by hosting the 2024 East Region Challenge, presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC, where they will face Chestnut Hill College on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. before battling Saint Anselm the next day at 2 p.m.  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.