AMHERST, N.Y. - Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) of the Daemen College men's basketball team has been named the College's 2017-18 Male Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made tonight at the Daemen ESPY's, the Athletic Department's annual awards gala which held at Lumsden Gymnasium. The award was presented by alumnus, former men's basketball player and Daemen Hall of Fame inductee Mark Rouse '02.
Sischo, a 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman center, played a leading role during the Wildcats' 22-win season which saw them ranked as high as No. 5 in the D2SIDA East Region media poll while qualifying for the East Coast Conference Tournament for the third consecutive season. An eight-time ECC Rookie of the Week and one-time ECC Player of the Week honoree, Sischo was downright dominant on the interior for the Wildcats. He led Daemen in points (462), points per game (15.4), made field goals (195), field goal percentage (56.5%), rebounds (261), rebounds per game (8.7) and blocked shots (25). His point total established a new team record for scoring by a freshman, eclipsing the previous mark of 420 set by Brian Montanaro during the 2002-03 season. He was also the first Daemen player with more than 200 rebounds in a season since Gerald Beverly (373 in 2014-15), and his rebound total is second among freshmen players in team history.
Sischo appeared in all 30 games while making 18 starts during the 2017-18 season, and reached double-figure scoring in 25 games, while also totaling 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 a string of 20 consecutive games in which he scored 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 Torrence 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 ranked as the fourth most by a Division II player at the time this season.
Sischo led all ECC freshmen and ranked among the league's overall leaders in scoring (seventh), rebounding (second) and field goal percentage (third). He was voted a first team All-ECC selection and the league's Rookie of the Year. That made him Daemen's first major award winner from the conference since Beverly earned ECC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, and the first freshman to earn first team All-ECC honors since John Petrucelli of Molloy College in the 2010-11 season.
The Male Athlete of the Year award was instituted in 2012, and Sischo is the first freshman to receive the honor. Previous honorees include men's basketball players Dom Mazzocchi (2011-12), Casey Sheehan (2012-13), Beverly (2013-14 & 2014-15), and Dyck (2015-16), and cross country/track and field athlete Kevin Roginson (2016-17).
Nominations for the award are made by Office of Athletic Communications and nominees are then voted on by the department's head coaches and other full-time staffers. Additional nominees this year included Mitch Feneziani (West Seneca, N.Y.) from the men's golf team, Noah Keem (Amherst, N.Y.) from the men's soccer team, Zach Laird (Alexander, N.Y.) from the men's track and field team and Ricardo Ruiz Martinez (Valencia, Spain) from the men's tennis team.
