Ed Mailiard

Men's Basketball Opens Conference Play At Staten Island

Wildcats looking for sixth 1-0 start in nine seasons as ECC member

11/22/2021 3:00:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for Communications/Operations

GAME #5
Daemen (1-3, 0-0 ECC) vs. Staten Island (0-3, 0-0 ECC)
Tuesday, Nov. 23 | CSI Sports & Recreation Center | Staten Island, N.Y.
Watch (ECC Network)
Live Stats
Game Notes (PDF)

JUMP BALL
Daemen looks to get back on track Tuesday when they open East Coast Conference play by visiting league newcomer Staten Island. The Wildcats have dropped three-straight games – all against nationally ranked opponents. It marks the team's first three-game slide since early in the 2016-17 season. Daemen is coming off an 85-63 loss to #12/#15 Mercyhurst. It was the Wildcats' first game since coming out of a COVID-19-related pause in team activities. Staten Island is being outscored by an average of 41 points through their first three games.

RELOADED
Daemen returns 11 players, including all five starters, from their regional championship team – players responsible for 98% of scoring, 99% of rebounding and assists from a season ago. None is bigger, both literally and figuratively, than center Andrew Sischo who returns for a fifth collegiate season after averaging 26.9 points and 13.0 rebounds per game last season. Fellow All-ECC picks Sean Fasoyiro (13.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 3.9 apg) and Kyle Harris (12.5 ppg, 39% 3PT) also return, along with Ryan Salzberg (8.6 ppg, 36% 3PT) and Andrew Mason (12.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 49% 3PT).

A MAGICAL RUN
The Wildcats earned their third consecutive NCAA tournament berth and captured their first regional title last March. After entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Regional, the Wildcats ran to an 81-69 win over third-seeded Bloomfield in the regional semifinals, marking the program's first-ever NCAA tournament victory. The Wildcats followed up with a 71-70 defeat of top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas in the regional final, avenging a loss just nine days prior in the ECC Championship final. Andrew Sischo was named the Most Outstanding Player of the East Regional after netting 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in the final. The Wildcats' run came to an end just over a week later in Evansville, Indiana where they suffered a 97-83 loss in the Elite Eight to top-seeded and eventual national runner-up West Texas A&M. The Wildcats finished with a 10-6 overall record and were ranked ninth in the final D2SIDA national media poll.

BIG MAN ON CAMPUS
Graduate student Andrew Sischo is arguably the most decorated Daemen student-athlete of all-time. He entered his final collegiate season as the active scoring (2,223) and rebounding (1,101) leader among all NCAA Division II players. A two-time consensus All-American, Sischo is coming off his finest season to date as he averaged career-highs in scoring (26.9 ppg – a Daemen single season record) and rebounding (13.0 rpg). Sischo scored 20+ points in 14 of 15 games last season and, including this year, has scored 10+ points in 69 of his last 70 games. He has 63 double-doubles in 108 career games and has led Division II in double-doubles in each of the last two seasons. Sischo was named the East Conference Preseason Player of the Year for an unprecedented fourth time.

MILESTONE MOMENTS
Andrew Sischo recently surpassed a pair of milestones, adding to his collection of career achievements. In Daemen's season opener vs. Minnesota State Moorhead, Sischo became Daemen's all-time leading rebounder, supplanting Alex Nwora who had 1,103 rebounds in his career from 1989-93. The following night against Colorado Mesa, Sischo became the all-time leading scorer in East Coast Conference history, breaking the benchmark of 2,247 points set by former St. Thomas Aquinas star Justin Reyes from 2014-18. Sischo became Daemen's all-time scoring leader last season and is the first player in program history to reach 2,000 points. He is only the second player in ECC history (Reyes) with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and he already holds Daemen and ECC records for career field goals (912). He passed Reyes for second on the ECC's all-time rebounding list during a 13-rebound outing vs. Mercyhurst. He needs 130 rebounds to become the ECC's all-time leader.

RETURN OF THE MAC
Mike MacDonald returns for his eighth season on Daemen's bench and his 25^th overall as a collegiate head coach. The veteran mentor has led Daemen to a 140-60 record since taking the reins in 2014. The Wildcats rank second in victories among all East Coast Conference and New York State Division II teams in that span. MacDonald is among an elite fraternity of coaches to have achieved 100 victories across all three NCAA divisions, and he enters the season just four wins shy of 400 for his career.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Daemen's most high profile roster addition came in the form of 6-foot-5 guard Nick MacDonald, the son of head coach Mike MacDonald, who elected to transfer after two seasons at Division I Niagara. The younger MacDonald provides another three-point shooting option to an already potent team. The Wildcats ranked second in the ECC and 32^nd nationally last season by averaging 9.6 made three-pointers per game. MacDonald shot 35% from deep and connected on 50 three-pointers in his two seasons with the Purple Eagles.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Guards Sean Fasoyiro and Andrew Mason each made immediate contributions during their first season with the program in 2020-21. Fasoyiro was a first-team All-ECC and NABC All-District selection after finishing second on the team in scoring (13.9) and rebounding (7.1) while leading the squad in assists (3.9). Fasoyiro, a graduate transfer from Franklin Pierce, is competing in a fifth collegiate season with 97 games of playing experience under his belt to start the year. Mason burst on the scene as a freshman and started all 16 contests. He averaged 12.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while leading the ECC in three-point field goal accuracy (.487).

TEXAS-SIZED CHALLENGES
Daemen opened the season with three high-profile contests in Canyon, Texas as part of the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic held over Halloween weekend. The Wildcats knocked off Minnesota State Moorhead, 67-63, in the opener, thanks to the play of Nick MacDonald (17 points) and Andrew Sischo (16 points, 15 rebounds). The Dragons were ranked No. 25 in the D2SIDA preseason poll and picked to finish first in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. It marked the 18th time in the last 20 seasons that Daemen has started 1-0. A pair of losses to nationally ranked team followed. No. 4 Colorado Mesa got the best of the Wildcats, 76-65, using a 27-6 second-half spurt to erase a nine-point halftime deficit. Sischo was held to nine points, snapping a string of 67 consecutive double-figure games. The All-American big man was hampered by foul trouble and limited to 19 minutes – his lowest minute total since playing 10 against New York Tech on Dec. 16, 2018, a game he left due to an injury. Sischo returned to form in the tournament finale, finishing with 18 points and 15 boards, but it wasn't enough to lead Daemen past No. 3 West Texas A&M. In a rematch of last season's Elite Eight meeting. The Buffs came out on top again, this time by just three points (69-66). Sean Fasoyiro's tying three-point attempt fell short as the buzzer sounded. Both Sischo and Fasoyiro were named to the All-Tournament Team.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
The Daemen program has been built on sustained success, winning at least 19 games in nine of the last 10 seasons. That span encompasses the end of Daemen's NAIA Era, its' NCAA transition period and the first six seasons of full NCAA Division II membership. The Wildcats have won 72% of their contests, going 207-82 in that span. Looking more recently, Daemen is 81-31 since the start of the 2017-18 season (.723 winning percentage).

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
Daemen has earned three consecutive NCAA tournament berths. The Wildcats won 24 games (NCAA Era program record) and earned at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in 2019 and 2020. The Wildcats entered the 2021 tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region and picked up their first-ever NCAA tourney win with an 81-69 defeat of third-seeded Bloomfield en route to the program's first regional championship and Elite Eight appearance.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Daemen's 2021-22 schedule will provide plenty of tests. The Wildcats are slated to play games against seven teams who were ranked in either the NABC or D2SIDA preseason national polls: Minnesota State Moorhead, Colorado Mesa, West Texas A&M, Mercyhurst, West Liberty, Saint Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas. Daemen has recorded two wins over top-25 ranked teams in each of the last three seasons.

SCOUTING STATEN ISLAND
Staten Island is a program that is currently transitioning from NCAA Division III to Division II and are competing as an East Coast Conference member for the first time. The Dolphins are led by Nicholas Doran who was named Interim Head Coach last spring following years as an assistant on the CSI staff.

The Dolphins are also competing for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Playing a mixture of Division II and III teams that year, the Dolphins finished 9-16 overall. Just four players, including one starter, remain on the roster. CSI opted out of the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CSI is still trying to find its footing after opening the season with three lopsided losses. The Dolphins are averaging just 50.0 points per game following losses to New Haven (81-50), St. Rose (112-54) and American International (80-46).

Three players are producing double-figure scoring, led by junior guard Chris Velasquez (10.3 ppg). Messiah Mallory is one of three first-year college players in the Dolphins' starting lineup thus far and is nearly averaging a double-double (10.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg). Sophomore Bryce Waterman is contributing 10.0 points and 4.7 boards per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. STATEN ISLAND
All-Time Series: 0-0
At Staten Island: 0-0
Current Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A

DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that Daemen is 5-3 all-time in East Coast Conference season openers? The Wildcats are looking to start 1-0 in conference play for the fourth straight season.

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