Harris Named ECC Men's Basketball Player of the Week

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Men's Basketball | 1/16/2018 3:45:00 PM

AMHERST, N.Y. - Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) of Daemen College has been named the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week. The official announcement of ECC accolades for games played January 8-14 was made via the league's weekly sport report which was released this afternoon from conference headquarters in West Babylon, N.Y.

Harris stuffed the stat sheet in a trio of home wins last week, averaging 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, all while shooting a sizzling 66.7 percent from the field (20-for-30) and 62.5 percent from three-point range (5-for-8). It was the 5-foot-9 sophomore guard's finest week in a Daemen uniform, helping to run the Wildcats' winning streak to six straight games which has propelled them into the D2SIDA East Region media poll for the first time this season.

After opening the week with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists in an 80-56 rout of the University of the District of Columbia on Jan. 10, Harris really came on in a pair of weekend victories over Long Island University Post (74-66 on Jan. 12) and New York Institute of Technology (93-82 on Jan. 14). He posted career-highs of 16 points, seven rebounds and seven steals in the win over LIU Post. Two days later, he eclipsed his career-bests again, scoring 23 points on 9-for-9 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds, while adding six assists, three steals and two blocks in the win over NYIT.

Harris has experienced a meteoric rise since being inserted into the Wildcats' starting lineup six games ago, a span that coincides with the team's recent winning streak. Coming off the bench in the first 11 games of the season, Harris was producing 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game while shooting 31.8 percent from the field (14-for-44), including an 0-for-14 mark from three-point range. He made his first career start on Dec. 31 and scored eight points (3/5 FG, 2/3 3PT) to help Daemen capture a road win over regionally-ranked College of St. Rose, snapping the Golden Knights' 14-game home winning streak. He followed that up with the first double-figure game of his career, scoring 15 points in a 77-69 win at Salem University on Jan. 3. Three days later Harris dished a career-high eight assists in the Wildcats' 25-point win at Roberts Wesleyan College. Add it all up after last week's stellar performances and, as a starter, Harris is producing 13.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.7 steals per game and shooting 62.2 percent from the field (33-for-53) and 52.6 percent from three-point range (10-for-19).

For the season, Harris has appeared in all 17 games, averaging 22.1 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game. He ranks third in total steals (35) and 10th in total assists (47) among the ECC leaders.

Harris becomes the first Daemen player to garner ECC Player of the Week honors since former teammate Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y.) did so for games played January 19-25, 2016. It's also the fifth weekly honor for a Daemen player this season as redshirt freshman center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) has been a four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection.

Harris and the Wildcats are back in action this weekend when they visit Molloy College (Friday, Jan. 19) and Queens College (Sunday, Jan. 21) for a pair of ECC contests. The Wildcats enter the week with an overall record of 11-6, and an ECC mark of 5-2 which places them third in the league standings.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen men's basketball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenMBB on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Breon Harris: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#22 Andrew Sischo: C; 6' 9"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

#2 Breon Harris
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#22 Andrew Sischo
: 6' 9"; Redshirt Freshman
: C

Players Mentioned

#2 Breon Harris

#22 Andrew Sischo

Players Mentioned

#2 Breon Harris

#22 Andrew Sischo