COLONIA, NJ – The East Coast Conference announced its 2025 Men’s Basketball All-Conference honorees on Thursday afternoon, with Daemen redshirt sophomore center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, NY) headlining the list as the league’s Player of the Year. St. Thomas Aquinas sophomore guard/forward Shaun Arnold (Indianapolis, IN) was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year while Mercy freshman guard Nathan Robertson (Boston, MA) was the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. At the helm of the No. 1 team in the country, Daemen’s Mike MacDonald received Coach of the Year recognition to round out the major award winners, with all voting completed by the league’s nine head coaches.
Bill topped the ECC and ranked third nationally in field goal percentage at the conclusion of the regular season, shooting at a clip of 73.0 percent (184-for-252) through 25 games. He also ranked third in the league in total blocks (48) and blocks per game (1.9), fourth in scoring (16.8 ppg), and fifth in rebounding (7.4 rpg). The four-time ECC Player of the Week and two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week scored in double figures 22 times and recorded seven double-doubles as #1/2 Daemen defeated its opponents by an average of 22.6 points per game, good for second in the nation.
Arnold topped the ECC and ranked 10th nationally in total steals (68), swiping the ball away 2.3 times per game in 29 regular season contests, and ranked fifth in total rebounds (192), eighth in rebounds per game (6.6), and 10th in total blocks (22). The ECC Defensive Player of the Year totaled 14 games with three or more steals and dropped five double-doubles after averaging 11.5 points per game on 48.0 percent shooting from the field. Arnold helped anchor STAC to a nation-leading 17.00 offensive rebounds per game and 19.43 turnovers forced per game, which topped the ECC and ranked eighth nationally.
Arnold and No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas enter this week’s ECC Men’s Basketball Championship as the No. 2 seed and will face the winner of All-ECC First Teamer Rob Matos and No. 6 Molloy vs. the All-ECC Third Team pair of Nasan Ayala and Shamar Chester and No. 3 Queens on Saturday, March 8 in Amherst, NY.
The unanimous Rookie of the Year, Robertson led all ECC freshmen in scoring (16.6 ppg), field goal percentage (50.6, 163-for-322), rebounding (6.7 rpg), assists (4.5 mpg), and steals (2.0 mpg), all of which ranked in the league’s top ten. The six-time ECC Rookie of the Week scored in double figures 23 times on the year.
After guiding the Wildcats to an unblemished 25-0 overall record and 16-0 mark in conference play as well as multiple weeks in the NABC’s No. 1 spot, Daemen’s MacDonald has earned ECC Coach of the Year honors from his peers. Under MacDonald’s direction, Daemen topped all of NCAA Division II in winning percentage (100.0) and field goal percentage defense (37.1), ranked second nationally in scoring margin (22.6) and rebounding margin (10.5), sat third nationally in scoring defense (62.4), and finished fourth in field goal percentage (52.1).
With a perfect record in ECC action, MacDonald’s Wildcats became just the fourth program in league history to finish the conference regular season undefeated, joining C.W. Post (1989-90 and 2008-09), Adelphi (2000-01), and Philadelphia U. (1992-93 and 1993-94).
MacDonald, Bill, and the Wildcats enter this week’s ECC Men’s Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed and will face the winner of All-ECC First Teamer Messiah Mallory and No. 5 Staten Island vs. All-ECC First Teamer Malik Brooks and No. 4 Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday, March 8 at home in Amherst, NY.
Joining Bill on the First Team are Daemen teammate Justin Hemphill, Molloy’s Rob Matos, Roberts Wesleyan’s Malik Brooks, Staten Island’s Messiah Mallory, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Hartnel Haye.
Arnold and Robertson are joined on the Second Team by Daemen’s Justin Glover and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Derrick James and Luis Risquez while the Third Team is comprised of Daemen’s Zach Philipkoski, D’Youville’s Justin Moore, Molloy’s Bryce Merchant, and Queens’ Nasan Ayala and Shamar Chester.
2025 ECC Men’s Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Benjamin Bill, Daemen
Malik Brooks, Roberts Wesleyan
Hartnel Haye, St. Thomas Aquinas
Justin Hemphill, Daemen
Messiah Mallory, Staten Island
Rob Matos, Molloy
Second Team
Shaun Arnold, St. Thomas Aquinas
Justin Glover, Daemen
Derrick James, St. Thomas Aquinas
Luis Risquez, St. Thomas Aquinas
Nathan Robertson, Mercy
Third Team
Nasan Ayala, Queens
Shamar Chester, Queens
Bryce Merchant, Molloy
Justin Moore, D’Youville
Zach Philipkoski, Daemen
Player of the Year: Benjamin Bill, Daemen
Defensive Player of the Year: Shaun Arnold, St. Thomas Aquinas
Rookie of the Year: Nathan Robertson, Mercy
Coach of the Year: Mike MacDonald, Daemen