Jim Stankiewicz

Men's Basketball To Play Saint Michael's, Gannon In East Region Challenge

11/12/2026 12:22:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Director of Athletics Communications | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

HOME, SWEET HOME
The #15 Daemen University men's basketball team makes their 2026-27 home debut this weekend as they host the East Region Challenge at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats will take on Saint Michael's on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 PM in a rematch of the 2026 East Region Semifinals, then will take on the reigning national champions #3 Gannon on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 2 PM. Prior to Daemen's games, Roberts Wesleyan and Gannon will play on Friday at 5 PM, and Saint Michael's and Roberts will play on Saturday at 12 PM.

LAST GAME
The Wildcats come into this weekend's tournament with a 0-1 record after falling at Saint Anselm on Monday in a tight matchup. In a rematch of the 2026 NCAA Div. II East Region Championship game featuring two very different looking teams in the 2026-27 season, the Hawks upset the 15th ranked Wildcats 83-72 in the season opener. Saint Anselm built momentum off an 8-0 run to end the first half and outscored the Wildcats 57 to 41 in the second half, shooting 60-percent from the field to Daemen's 42-percent. The Hawks out-rebounded Daemen 45 to 35 but dominated the defensive boards, pulling down 40 defensive rebounds to Daemen's 25. The Wildcats start the season 0-1, marking the first season opener loss since Nov. 3, 2023, and Monday's loss was just the second regular season loss for Daemen in the last three seasons. Daemen sophomore guard Nakyhi Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) shined in his first collegiate start, scoring a game-high 34 points while shooting 50-percent (14-of-28) from the field and banking four triples. Redshirt junior Trevor Barrett (Cary, N.C.) was the only other Wildcat with double-digit points tonight, finishing with 12 points after a pair of three's, two buckets and a pair of free throws, adding three rebounds and two assists. Sophomore forward Pat Rouse (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) totaled nine points -- seven of which came in the first half -- along with four rebounds, a team-high four steals and two assists. Sophomore guard Jaymeir Goosby (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished with nine points, five rebounds, one steal and one assist. Freshman forward Brady Olsen (Niskayuna, N.Y.) led the Wildcats defensively with nine rebounds, including a team-high seven defensive boards, and chipped in four points, two steals and one assist.

PRESEASON POLL
The Wildcats received the #1 spot in the 2026-27 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, released on Oct. 20, after becoming the first ECC program since Philadelphia Textile in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons to record back-to-back undefeated conference regular seasons. The Wildcats led the conference in assists to turnover ratio, assists per game, blocks per game, effective field goal ratio, field goal percentage, fastbreak points, field goal percentage defense, fouls per game, rebounding margin, rebounds per game, scoring defense, scoring margin, three-point percentage, three-point percentage defense, turnovers per game, and winning percentage. The Wildcats led NCAA Div. II in blocks, and ranked in the top-10 in assists (2nd), winning percentage (2nd), scoring margin (4th), rebound margin (6th), fouls per game (8th), and rebounds per game (9th). Daemen has won 38 straight ECC regular season games, a streak that dates back to Feb. 11, 2024.

MR. PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Daemen redshirt senior forward Phil Nwugwo (Rochester, N.Y.) was named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year after a breakout 2025-26 season. Nwugwo played in all 35 games for the Wildcats last year, including making 11 starts in the middle of the season, and finished the year averaging 8.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. While in the starting lineup, Nwugwo averaged 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He finished the year ranking fifth in total blocks with 38 and ninth in blocks per game in the conference. With Nwugwo as a key member of the Wildcats starting lineup this season, he had a standout performance in Daemen's exhibition game against St. John Fisher on Oct. 17, finishing with 32 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks while shooting 66% from the floor and pulling down a game-high seven offensive boards.

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 former head coach Mike 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.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to West Virginia to play at Fairmont State on Wednesday, Nov. 18 in a 5:30 PM match up.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
After finishing as the runners up in the NE10 Tournament and advancing to the NCAA Div. II East Region Semifinals a season ago, Saint Michael's returns three starters from their impressive 2025-26 squad. Sophomore guard Quintin Floyd, who earned Third Team All-NEC honors last season is back after leading the Purple Knights with 12.8 points per game in 2025-26. Greg Kenney, who averaged 10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.7 steals per game last season, returns for his junior season. Kenney totaled 12 points after shooting 3-of-4 from the field in the season opener against Chestnut Hill on Monday. Senior guard Latiek Briscoe Jr. started all 33 games for the Purple Knights and averaged 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game leads SMC in scoring on the year after totaling 14 points in the season opener. The Purple Knights are receiving votes in the NABC Preseason Poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY: The Wildcats are 6-2 against the Purple Knights, including an 85-62 win in the East Region Semifinals in March.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Putting together an impeccable 34-3 season to win the 2026 NCAA Div. II National Championship, Gannon comes into the weekend with a 2-0 record. The Golden Knights return eight players and two starters from their 2025-26 team. After winning the National Championship, the Golden Knights lost their consensus All-American Pace Prosser, who transferred to Div. I Siena after after averaging 18.6 points per game while shooting 45% from the field last season, along with Precious Idiaru (transferred to IU Indy), Lucas Sekasi (transferred to Quinnipiac) and Victor Desmond (graduation) following the end of the season last year. Finishing second on the team in scoring with 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game during the national championship season, guard Lucas Morgan returns to Gannon for his senior campaign where he has averaged 12.5 points per game so far. In Gannon's first two games, senior Parker Applegate leads the way offensively with 17 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. A 2025-26 starter for the Golden Knights, senior guard Mackenzie Morgan ranks third on the team this season with 14.5 points and 4 rebounds per game.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY: Gannon is 6-2 all-time against the Wildcats and won the regular season matchup between the two teams last season 79-61, snapping Daemen's NCAA-best 51 game win streak on Jan. 21, 2026.

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