AMHERST, N.Y. - Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) of the Daemen College men's basketball team has been named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 25 Watch List which was announced today by Small College Basketball (SCB), a national organization which highlights the accomplishments of non-NCAA Division I basketball teams and student-athletes. It marks the second-straight season that SCB has named Sischo among the final 25 players under consideration for the prestigious award which is named for the former basketball star at Rio Grande College who averaged 50.1 points per game during the 1952-53 season. It is awarded to the player who is deemed to have had the finest season within Small College Basketball, which consists of NCAA Divisions II and III as well as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).
"On behalf of the National Awards Committee, I congratulate the 25 players that have made the Bevo Francis Watch List of 25 players,"said Small College Basketball Founder John McCarthy. "Clearly, this is a highly prestigious group of players that have helped lead their teams to great heights. It is important to note that this is an individual award, yet team success is an important criteria; as such, all of the players on this list have helped to lead their team to their respective national tournament and all of these teams have won more than 20 games, with more than half of them winning 25 games or more. These players are the elite of the elite, and I sincerely congratulate each and every one of them."
Sischo, a 6-foot-9 redshirt junior center, was the catalyst behind Daemen's seventh 20-win campaign in the last nine seasons. He appeared in 31 of the team's 32 games and averaged 24.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, while shooting 65 percent from the field, 45 percent from three-point range and 74 percent from the free throw line. Sischo racked up 22 double-doubles, ranking first among all NCAA Division II players. He also placed himself among the Division II leaders in rebounding (2nd), scoring (8th) and field goal percentage (10th) while leading Daemen to its second-straight berth in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, although the tournament was ultimately canceled in an unprecedented decision due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
Sischo entered the 2019-20 season with high expectations after being named the East Coast Conference Preseason Player of the Year for the second-straight year. He more than lived up to the preseason hype, as he led the Wildcats to wins in 11 of their first 12 games and a No. 8 ranking in both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Division II Sports Information Director Association national polls. The Wildcats finished the year with a 24-8 overall record and got plenty of big outings from Sischo along the way. He posted 24 games of 20+ points and reached 30 points six times, including a team-record performance in Daemen's win over Queens College in the opening round of the ECC Championship tournament. Sischo torched the Knights for 47 points on 19-of-29 shooting, breaking Rob Robinson's single-game scoring record that had stood since 1991.
Not a single Division II player grabbed more total rebounds than Sischo's 362, a total that ranks third in program history and eighth in ECC history for a single season. Sischo also set Daemen and ECC records for total points in a season with 773, a total that ranked fifth in Division II.
Sischo went on to earn his second ECC Player of the Year selection as well as All-ECC First Team honors for the third-straight season. A five-time ECC Player of the Week and two-time Division II National Player of the Week from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, Sischo was also recently voted the NCAA Division II East Region Player of the Year by the Conference Commissioner's Association - the second-straight year he's picked up that hardware. He was named to the all-tournament team at the season-opening Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic, again at the Daemen-hosted ECC-CACC Challenge in early November and also at the ECC Championship tournament. In addition, Sischo has recently earned Academic All-District First Team and Academic All-America Second Team honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Already Daemen's all-time leader in made field goals (722), Sischo has cemented his place among Daemen's all-time greats as the only player in team history to total at least 1,800 points and 900 rebounds. In 89 games played, he's totaled 1,820 points (fourth all-time), 906 rebounds (fourth all-time), 356 made free throws (seventh all-time) and 88 blocked shots (seventh all-time). He's also posted 47 double-doubles. The Wildcats are 70-22 during Sischo's three seasons on the hardwood.
Sischo is one of 16 NCAA Division II players - and the only one from the East Region - to be included in the Bevo Francis Award Top 25 Watch List. This marks the fifth season of the Bevo Francis Award. Previously recipients include Dominez Burnett of Davenport University in 2016, Justin Pitts of Northwest Missouri State University in 2017, Emanuel Terry of Lincoln Memorial University (2018) and Aston Francis of Wheaton College last season.
On April 4, the finalists of this year's award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned on April 6. To stay up to date on all things Small College Basketball, please head to smallcollegebasketball.com.
Daemen College features the only NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
