Sischo Headlines 4 All-Conference Selection For Daemen Men's Hoops

Redshirt Junior Center Named ECC Player of the Year For Second Time

3/6/2020 7:56:00 PM

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. - For the second-straight season, Daemen College center Andrew Sischo has been named the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year, headlining a quartet of All-ECC selections for the Wildcats. Sischo, who also garnered his third consecutive All-ECC First Team selection, was joined by teammates Breon Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) and Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y.) when the All-ECC awards were announced tonight at the ECC Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Banquet held on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia. Harris was named to the All-ECC Second Team while Wallace and Redband were each a part of the All-ECC Third Team. It marks the third-straight season the Daemen has placed four players among the All-ECC selections.

Sischo picked up right were he left off and has taken his game to new heights this season, averaging 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while shooting 64-percent from the field. He's appeared in 30 of the team's 31 games and has racked up 21 double-doubles - the most for a Division II player this season. Sischo finished the regular season as the ECC scoring champion and also ranks among the national leaders in scoring (seventh), rebounding (third) and field goal percentage (10th). He has set Daemen and ECC records for field goals made in a single season with 289. His 750 total points rank as the most-ever for a single season in ECC history, and just 18 shy of setting a new program record. Just this week he broke a 29 year old team record for points in game, scoring 47 in Daemen's 90-76 win over Queens College in the opening round of the ECC Championship Tournament - three points better than the previous mark set by Rob Robinson during the 1990-91 season.

The announcement today adds to a laundry list of accolades for the 6-foot-9 redshirt junior. After being named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year in late October (for the second-straight season), Sischo has gone on to be a five-time ECC Player of the Week and a two-time Division II National Player of the Week from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He was named to the all-tournament team at the season-opening Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic and again the following weekend at the Daemen-hosted ECC-CACC Challenge, and has gone on to be named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 and 50 Watch Lists for the best player in the country from a non-Division I team. In addition, Sischo was recently named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team.

Already Daemen's all-time leader in made field goals (713), Sischo has cemented his place among Daemen's all-time great players. With 1,797 points, he's three shy of moving into the top five in program history. He also ranks fourth in rebounds (889) and seventh in both made free throws (344) and blocked shots (88). He's achieved those totals, along with 46 career double-doubles, in just 88 games played. The Wildcats are 70-21 during Sischo's three seasons on the hardwood.

Harris is among the All-ECC honorees for a third-straight season. He had been a third-team honoree as a sophomore and junior. The 5-foot-9 guard has enjoyed a stellar senior campaign, producing a career-high 12.9 points along with 4.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a team-high 2.1 steals per game. He ranks second in steals per game, 16th in assists per game and 18th in points per game among ECC players. Harris has four 20-point games under his belt this season, including a 21-point outing on November 23 against Wilmington University. He nailed a pull-up three-pointer to give Daemen the lead with just over 30 seconds remaining, delivering a Wildcat win in the program's first-ever game at KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo.

Harris scored his 1,000th career point in this week's win over Queens, becoming the 27th player in team history to reach the milestone. He's also the first Daemen player to swipe 50 or more steals in three-straight seasons, and he ranks fourth all-time with 184 steals in his career. Since Harris was inserted into the team's starting lineup on December 31, 2017, the Wildcats have won 65 of their last 80 contests.

Wallace has made an immediate impact in his first season with the Wildcats. After transferring from Southern Connecticut State University, the redshirt senior guard/forward is contributing 12.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He is the only player in the ECC to be producing at least 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He has reached double-figure scoring in 18 games and has produced a trio of double-doubles, but his most important contribution may be in the assist category. Wallace leads Daemen and ranks third in the conference with 115 assists - the most for a Daemen player since Mark Coppola's 154 during the 2013-14 season. The Wildcats are 17-3 this season when he records at least three assists. He also routinely takes on the Wildcats' top individual defensive assignment, matching up with the opposition's best perimeter player. Wallace has twice been named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week this season.

Wallace, who appeared in 85 games over parts of four seasons at SCSU, scored his 1,000th career point in his hometown of Rochester while leading Daemen to a 93-73 win over Roberts Wesleyan College on February 1. Including his time at SCSU, Wallace has appeared in 115 games and totaled 1,122 points, 628 rebounds and 392 assists.

Redband is another Daemen player who has furthered his place among Daemen's all-time greats this season. The 6-foot-7 redshirt senior forward is averaging 12.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 1.0 steals per game this season. As has become his trademark, he's done the bulk of his work offensively from behind the three-point arc. Redband leads the ECC and ranks 12th nationally with a career-high 98 three-point field goals, a total that places him second in team history and fifth in ECC history for a single season. He also leads the ECC in three-point shooting efficiency (.453) and has produced six games of 20+ points this season.

Redband is the first Daemen player since Brian Montanaro (2002-06) to make 60+ three-pointers in four-straight seasons. In the February 1 game at Roberts Wesleyan, he made his 289th career three-pointer, breaking Montanaro's program record. Now with 314 total three-point field goals, Redband ranks third all-time among ECC players and fourth among active Division II players. He also ranks ninth in career scoring at Daemen (1,414 points), and stands just eight rebounds shy from moving into the top 10 on that all-time list. An underrated defender, Redband is the only player in team history with 100+ steals and 100+ blocked shots.

Daemen (24-7, 12-4 ECC) returns to action Saturday night in the ECC Championship semifinals at the UDC Sports Complex. The third-seeded Wildcats take on second-seeded and nationally-ranked (No. 18 NABC, No. 18 D2SIDA) St. Thomas Aquinas College for the right to advance to the ECC Championship finals which will be held Sunday, March 8 and broadcast on ESPN3.

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.

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