Exhibition #1: Daemen Wildcats vs. St. John Fisher Cardinals | Saturday, Oct. 17 | 1:30 PM | Buffalo, N.Y. | KeyBank Center
Links: Live Stats | Tickets
Daemen Links: Roster | Schedule | Stats
St. John Fisher Links: Roster | Schedule | Stats
 

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BACK IN ACTION!
The Daemen University men's basketball team opens up the 2026-27 season with an exhibition game at the KeyBank Center on Saturday, Oct. 17 against NCAA Div. III opponent St. John Fisher University at 1:30 PM. It marks the second consecutive season that the Wildcats open up the year with an exhibition game at Buffalo's downtown arena, defeating Nazareth 75-48 in their season opener last year. 

HISTORIC RUN
The Wildcats return to the court as the reigning East Coast Conference and NCAA Div. II East Region champions after a historic 2025-26 campaign that saw a program-best 33-2 record after sweeping the conference (16-0) for the second straight season. Daemen earned their second consecutive ECC tournament title with wins over #5 seed D'Youville (73-59) and a big 20-point victory over #6 seed Roberts Wesleyan (86-66) in the conference championship game. The Wildcats hosted the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and cruised through the region, dominating in all three games (111-78 over #8 seed Goldey-Beacom, 85-62 over #5 seed Saint Michael's, 94-73 over #3 seed Saint Anselm) en route to hoist the program's second East Region trophy, first since 2021, and punch their ticket to the Elite Eight. Daemen entered as the #4 seed and played #5 Lander in an instant classic in the Elite Eight, trading points throughout the game before the Wildcats fell in a three-point heartbreaker, 74-77, to the eventual national champion runners up Bearcats. Following the season, head coach Mike MacDonald left to take the head coach position at his alma mater St. Bonaventure. The Wildcats have won 42 straight ECC regular season games, a streak that dates back to Feb. 9, 2024. 

NEW LOOK CATS
First-year head coach Ryan Grandits was hired in April as the seventh men's basketball coach in program history, making his return to Main Street after spending the 2025-26 season as the head coach of Point Park University in Pittsburg, Pa. Grandits was the longtime top assistant under MacDonald for nearly a decade and inherited a program that went 61-3 over the last two seasons, won a pair of ECC titles, went undefeated in conference play in back-to-back seasons and earned the regional title. The Wildcats return seven players from the 2025-26 campaign. Redshirt senior forward Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) highlights the returners after a breakout redshirt junior season where he finished sixth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game along with shooting an impressive 61.9% from the field and totaling 38 blocks defensively. 2025-26 newcomers Nakyhi Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Jaiden Harrison (Buffalo, N.Y.) also return to the team after playing solid minutes in their first season with the Wildcats. Grandits rounded out the roster by adding 10 new players, eight incoming freshmen along with junior transfer Kenny Freeman (Rochester, N.Y.) who spent his first two seasons at Herkimer County Community College and redshirt junior transfer Trevor Barrett (Cary, N.Y.) who comes to Daemen after playing his first two years as a starter at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. 

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
St. John Fisher put together a 13-14 overall record and 8-8 mark in conference play a year ago in a season that ended in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament semifinals. SJF averaged 70 points per game while shooting .422 from the field and .337 from beyond the arc in 25-26, while allowing their opponents to score 72.9 points, 37.5 rebounds and 16.8 points off 14.5 turnovers per game. The Cardinals return 10 players from the 2025-26 squad, including the team's top scorer and rebounder in junior forward/center Maxmius Michalski who averaged 12 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting .539 from the field, as well as totaling 51 blocks on the year (1.8 per game). Buffalo native sophomore guard Mekhi Gidney ranked second on the team last season with 9.8 points per game.

UP NEXT
Daemen opens the 2026-27 season with the East Region Challenge (Nov. 13-14) at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats will host Saint Michael's in a rematch of the 2026 East Region Semifinals on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 PM in their home opener, and will face the reigning NCAA Div. II Champions Gannon Golden Knights on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1 PM.