Unbeaten Wildcats Maintain #3 National Ranking

12/2/2025 3:55:00 PM

AMHERST, N.Y. - For the second straight week, Daemen University is the No. 3 ranked team in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Poll which was released today. The Wildcats have now been ranked in 18 successive national polls dating back to last season.

Daemen is off to a 8-0 start this season, and the Wildcats already own a pair of wins against nationally-ranked teams. In their season opener on Nov. 1, the Wildcats outlasted then-No. 19 Lenoir-Rhyne 75-69 at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. Then, on Nov. 19, Daemen used a late surge to push past then-No. 5 Fairmont State 75-63 at the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium.

NABC Division II Men's Basketball Poll for Dec 2 2025

NABC Division II Men's Basketball Poll for Dec 2 2025

Most recently, Daemen returned from the Thanksgiving holiday and secured a 74-64 win over Clarion on Nov. 29. Redshirt junior center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) shot 8-for-8 from the floor and scored a game-high 19 points, en route to earning East Coast Conference Player of the Week honors. Junior guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) recorded his first double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) of the season, while redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) added 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. The win extended Daemen's regular season winning streak to 39 straight games dating back to the 2023-24 campaign.

The Wildcats have been led this season by the triumvirate that is Bill, Philipkoski and Hemphill. Bill, the 2025 ECC Preseason Player of the Year and a consensus All-American last season, has posted five double-doubles and is leading the Wildcats in both scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.3 rpg) while shooting 69 percent from the field. Philipkoski is shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range and averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Hemphill leads the team in assists (4.8 apg) and steals (2.1 spg) while scoring 12.3 points per game. He scored his 1,000th career point in the win over Fairmont State and is one of only seven players in program history to have totaled at least 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 200 assists.

The Wildcats have also gotten solid contributions from the backcourt duo of Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Ryan Heath (Rochester, N.Y.). Now in his third season as a full-time starter, Glover is contributing 9.3 points and 2.3 assists per game. Heath is in the starting lineup for the first time in his career, and has responded by averaging 9.9 points, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

Veteran mentor Mike MacDonald leads the group, now in his 12th season roaming the Daemen sidelines. He has guided Daemen to a 240-84 record in his tenure, and stands just three wins shy of 500 for his career.

The No. 3 Wildcats put their unblemished record on the line this Friday, Dec. 5 when they open conference play at Lumsden Gymnasium with the Queens Knights arriving for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

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, Facebook and Instagram at @DaemenMBB.

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