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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
sarkis mbb vs syracuse
Jay Sarkis nailed back-to-back three-pointers late in the game to help Daemen get past Nyack
74
Nyack NYACK 0-2
80
Winner Daemen DAEM 3-1
Nyack NYACK
0-2
74
Final
80
Daemen DAEM
3-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Nyack NYACK 38 36 74
Daemen DAEM 39 41 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcats Outlast Warriors To Cap ECC-CACC Challenge

Sischo Named Tournament MVP After Another Monster Outing

AMHERST, N.Y. - Redshirt-junior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) topped 30 points and 15 rebounds for the second consecutive game and was named MVP of the ECC-CACC Challenge presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC following an 80-74 win over a gutsy Nyack College team at Lumsden Gymnasium today. Sischo dominated throughout, finishing with 34 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks, and the Wildcats got timely buckets from redshirt-seniors Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.) and Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) to close the door on the Warriors.

The win marked Daemen's second in as many days as the Wildcats improve to 3-1 on the season, and 11-1 all-time in ECC-CACC Challenge contests. It also extends the Wildcats' home court winning streak to 10 straight. Nyack, which suffered a buzzer-beating 78-75 loss to Roberts Wesleyan College yesterday, dropped to 0-2 on the season.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Daemen led for more than 28 minutes, but could never extend their advantage to double figures as the Warriors clawed back at each hint of separation.
  • A driving bucket by Nyack's Kennith Ford with 4:14 remaining gave the Warriors a 66-65 lead - their first advantage in more than 17 minutes of action. Ford's basket came as part of a 10-2 run which was capped by a Curtis Thompson fastbreak layup at the 4:00 mark, a bucket that gave Nyack their largest lead of the game at 68-65.
  • Daemen responded with an old-fashioned three-point play by Sischo which sparked a decisive 11-2 run for the hosts.
  • Sarkis, who had misfired on his first nine field goal attempts today, drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 2:18 to play. After Junior Graham pulled Nyack within a point (71-70), Sarkis struck again with 1:35 to play, nailing a second straight trifecta, this one from the deep corner in front of the Wildcat bench. That was followed by a defensive stop, thanks to a blocked shot by Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.), and a step-back mid-range jumper by Wallace with less than a minute to go. Wallace had been 0-for-5 from the field prior to his dagger jumper. The Wildcats shot 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to seal the deal. 
  • Sischo shot better than 70 percent from the field for the second straight game, canning 12-of-16 shots. He added a 10-of-11 showing at the free throw line.
  • Senior guard Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) recorded the first double-double of his career, finishing with 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds while adding a game-high seven assists. 
  • Redband accounted for six of Daemen's 11 three-pointers - one shy of his career-high for a single game. The redshirt-senior forward closed with 22 points, his first 20-point game since last Feb. 15 (vs. LIU Post). 
  • Bailey paced a balanced effort with 12 points off the Nyack bench. Ford, Perris Hicks and Thomas Nolan all chipped in with 11 points. 

HEAD COACH MIKE MACDONALD POST-GAME COMMENTS
"I thought we showed some great resiliency all weekend long. We just kept battling and that's encouraging to see. After four regular season games and three exhibition games, we're far from a finished product, but I think we showed some real signs of growth over the last few days." 

GAME NOTES
  • Sischo was named the MVP of the ECC-CACC Challenge. He averaged 32.5 points, 18.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks while shooting 24-of-33 from the field (72.7%) over the two games. It marks the third straight season that Sischo has been named to the ECC-CACC Challenge all-tournament team.
  • Sischo has now posted four consecutive double-doubles, increasing his career total to 29. He's averaging 25.0 points and 15.8 rebounds per game this season. 
  • During the course of today's game, Sischo surpassed Chris Moore for 15th place on Daemen's all-time scoring list, and he collected the 600th rebound of his career. Sischo has played in 62 games for the Wildcats, and has totaled 1,147 points and 607 rebounds. 
  • Sischo was joined on the all-tournament team by Harris and Sarkis. Harris averaged 14.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists over the two games. Sarkis scored in double figures (11 points) in last night's 95-80 win over Felician University, before providing the late-game gumption today. Sarkis' first three-pointer today was the 150th of his career, becoming just the eighth player in program history to reach that total.
  • Daemen extended their ECC-CACC Challenge winning streak to eight straight games.
  • The Wildcats have won 21 of their last 22 home games dating back to February of 2018. In addition to their current 10-game home winning streak, the Wildcats are unbeaten in 11 straight non-conference home games. Daemen is 99-14 at Lumsden Gymnasium since the start of the 2011-12 season. 
  • Daemen is ranked No. 22 in the NABC preseason top-25 poll, and No. 18 in the D2SIDA preseason-top 25 poll. 
  • In today's other ECC-CACC Challenge contest, Felician overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to defeat Roberts Wesleyan 82-74.
  • Felician's Zamir Wright (26 points today) and Jay'von Jackson (21 points), as well as RWC's Reggie Clark (17 points) were named to the all-tournament team.

UP NEXT
Daemen remains at home to host defending Atlantic Region champion Mercyhurst University this Thursday, Nov. 14. Mercyhurst is the last non-conference opponent to score a win at Lumsden Gymnasium (69-55 on Nov. 14, 2017). 
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