ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Redshirt freshman Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) of the Daemen College men's basketball team has been named the 2017-18 East Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and to the all-conference first team, headlining a quartet of honorees for the Wildcats - the team's most all-conference recipients since joining the ECC in 2013-14. Guards Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.), and forward Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) were named third team all-conference selections. The 16-player all-conference team was selected by vote of the league's head coaches, and was unveiled this evening at the ECC Men's & Women's Basketball Championships banquet on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College. 

Sischo, a 6-foot-9 center, becomes Daemen's first ECC Rookie of the Year recipient, and the team's first major award winner since Gerald Beverly earned ECC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. He's also the first freshman to earn first team All-ECC honors since John Petrucelli of Molloy College in the 2010-11 season. Sischo joins former Wildcats Beverly (2013-14, 2014-15), Casey Sheehan (2013-14) and Torrence Dyck (2014-15, 2015-16) as players who have earned first team All-ECC honors.

Sischo was among four major award winners for the 2017-18 season announced by the conference today. Redshirt senior guard/forward Justin Reyes of Saint Thomas Aquinas College earned his third straight ECC Player of the Year selection. Junior guard Curtis Jenkins of Molloy College earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Mike Ruane of regular season champion University of Bridgeport was tabbed ECC Coach of the Year by his peers.

An eight-time ECC Rookie of the Week and one-time ECC Player of the Week honoree this season, Sischo has been downright dominant on the interior for the Wildcats. He leads Daemen in points (449), points per game (15.5), made field goals (190), field goals percentage (57.4%), rebounds (244), rebounds per game (8.4) and blocked shot (24). He's totaled the most points for a Daemen freshman since Brian Montanaro's 420 during the 2002-03 season, and is the first Daemen player with 200+ rebounds in a season since Beverly racked up 373 during his senior season (2014-15). He leads all ECC freshmen and ranks among the league's overall leaders in scoring (seventh), rebounding (second) and field goal percentage (third).   

Sischo, who has appeared in all 29 games while making 17 starts this season, has reached double-figure scoring in 24 games, and has posted seven double-doubles. He opened the season by earning all-tournament team honors at the ECC-CACC Challenge, helping Daemen to wins over Felician University and Nyack College. He recorded the first of seven 20-point games by dropping 24 in a non-conference road loss at Slippery Rock University on Nov. 26. On Dec. 15, he led the Wildcats to an ECC road win over Mercy College by scoring 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting. That game kick-started Sischo's string of 20 consecutive games with at least 10 points. He went on to notch a career-high 36 points and grab a career-high 23 rebounds in a 102-98 double-overtime win over Molloy College on Feb. 16. The 36 points were the most for a Daemen player since Dyck scored 35 in an epic come-from-behind win over Roberts Wesleyan College on Jan. 12, 2016. The 23 rebounds were the most for a Daemen player since Beverly hauled in 21 vs. Dowling College on Jan. 9, 2015. The 23 boards also ranks as the fourth most by a Division II player this season.

Turning to the three third team all-conference honorees, all have had their share of impact moments for the Wildcats this season. Harris' emergence has been nothing short of spectacular over the last nine weeks. After averaging just 3.1 points on 31.8 percent shooting while coming off the bench in the first 11 games of the season, the 5-foot-9 sophomore guard has gone on to produce 13.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.6 steals over the last 18 games as a starter, leading the Wildcats to a 17-1 record in that span. Harris, who totaled just three three-point field goals in the first 21 games of his career, has knocked down 25 triples in the last 18 games while recording the first 12 double-figure scoring games of his career. He was named the ECC Player of the Week for Jan. 8-14 after leading the Wildcats to a trio of home wins. Pressure defense has become his calling card as he ranks second in the ECC and 14th nationally with 66 steals this season, becoming the first Daemen player with 60+ since Sheehan's 68 during the 2012-13 season. For the season, Harris is averaging 9.6 points per game, and he also ranks seventh in the ECC with 92 assists.

Sarkis has been a model of consistency for the Wildcats this season. Coming off an injury that cost him the entire 2016-17 season, the redshirt sophomore guard has come back to start all 29 games this season and is contributing 12.5 points and a team-best 3.6 assists per game. Sarkis, who has made at least one three-pointer in 26 games this season, ranks among the ECC leaders in total minutes (1,019 - 4th),  minutes per game (35.1 - 5th), three-point field goal percentage (43.5 - 6th), three-point field goals (67 - 2nd) and total assists (101 - 4th). He's the first Daemen player with more than 100 assists in a season since Supreme Hannah's 109 during the 2014-15 season. Sarkis has posted the first five 20-point games of his career this season, including three in an undefeated (8-0) month of February. 

Last but not least is Redband, a 6-foot-7 redshirt sophomore, who has produced a career-best 18 games with at least 10 points this season. Like Sarkis, Redband has done the majority of his damage from long distance where he ranks third in three-point field goals (66) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (40.7%) among the ECC leaders. He's the first Daemen player with 60 or more threes in back-to-back seasons since Montanaro did so in all four of his seasons from 2002-06. For the season, Redband is contributing 11.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 19 points in a Jan. 10 win over the University of the District of Columbia, and has made at least five three-point field goals in five games this season. 

Daemen (22-7, 15-3 ECC), which is ranked eighth in the latest NCAA Division II East Region poll, has won 17 of their last 18 games dating back to a 68-60 road win over regionally-ranked College of Saint Rose on Dec. 31. The Wildcats closed the regular season in a tie for second place in the ECC standings. Entering the ECC Championship Tournament as the No. 3 seed, the Wildcats defeated No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan 75-69 earlier this week, advancing to the semifinal round where second-seeded and two-time defending ECC champion St. Thomas Aquinas awaits. Tip-off of the ECC Championship Tournament semifinals is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 3 at the Voller Athletic Center on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan.

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