ROCHESTER, N.Y. - It was a night to celebrate an individual achievement, but also one that saw a long winning streak go by the wayside.
Redshirt senior center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) became the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Daemen men's basketball program, but the milestone moment wasn't enough to carry the Wildcats past rival Roberts Wesleyan. The host Redhawks were not to be denied in downing the Wildcats 80-75 in East Coast Conference action tonight at the Voller Athletic Center. The result snapped Daemen's 20-game winning streak in the series. Roberts Wesleyan earned their first victory over Daemen since February 15, 2011. It also marked the Redhawks' first home win in the series since February 21, 2007, snapping Daemen's 14-game road winning streak.
It was the second meeting between the teams this week, and Daemen's third game in the last four days. The Wildcats defeated the Redhawks 93-86 on Monday night, and followed with a 102-77 win over ECC newcomer D'Youville last evening. The loss today sends them to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Roberts Wesleyan jumped back over the .500 mark at 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the league.
A see-saw affair, the teams combined for 17 lead changes and 12 ties, and neither team led by more than seven points throughout.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Sischo, who entered the game 13 points shy of Daemen's all-time scoring record, scored a team-high 20 points and added 10 rebounds for his ninth straight double-double dating back to last season. After netting 12 points in the first half, Sischo's milestone bucket came at the 12:03 mark of the second half as he broke the 29-year old mark of 1,962 points set by Robert Robinson who played from 1988-92.
- Senior guard Reggie Clark netted a game-high 22 points to pace the Redhawks. Clark took the game over in crunch time, hitting three three-pointers and scoring 13 of the Redhawks' final 17 points spanning more than five minutes.
- Armon Nasseri (18 points), Isaiah Lewis (14 points), Amari Lee (10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals) and Ja'Kair Sanchez (nine points) all contributed to a balanced scoring effort for the Redhawks.
- The loss spoiled a tremendous effort from Daemen sophomore Ryan Salzberg (Manlius, N.Y.) who came off the bench to knock down four three-pointers as part of a career-high 17 point outing. Salzberg added a career-high five assists in 27 minutes of action.
- Guards Sean Fasoyiro (Houston, Texas) and Kyle Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) also reached double figures for Daemen, notching 12 points apiece.
PERIOD-BY-PERIOD SUMMARY
First Half (Daemen 36, Roberts Wesleyan 35) - After surrendering 42 points to Sischo in the teams' last meeting, Roberts Wesleyan made it clear early they were going to collapse every time the Daemen big man touched the ball down low. The Wildcat offense struggled to find its flow early on and Daemen trailed for more than 15 minutes in the period. But, Roberts Wesleyan wasn't able to fully capitalize on Daemen's sluggish start. They led 16-9 following a three-pointer by Lee, but Daemen quickly thwarted any further separation and pulled even at 21-21 on a three-pointer from Salzberg. The lead traded hands five times in the final 4:34 of the half, including an old-fashioned three-point play by Sischo with 10 seconds left that sent the Wildcats into the intermission with a one-point edge.
Second Half (Roberts Wesleyan 45, Daemen 39) - There was no more than five points of separation for either team throughout the pivotal second half. Roberts Wesleyan built a trio of five-point leads, each of which were met by quick Daemen baskets - one by Salzberg and two by Sischo. Sischo was whistled for his fourth personal foul at the 8:01 mark with Roberts Wesleyan leading 60-59. With their star on the bench, Daemen did not whilt. Salzberg's three-pointer at the 5:36 mark put the Wildcats on top 64-63. But, Clark responded with a three-pointer of his own just 13 seconds later to kickstart his game-ending heroics. Salzberg put Daemen ahead 73-72 with another three-pointer at the 2:19 mark, but again Clark had the answer, hitting another triple with 1:59 to go. A drive and score by Daemen freshman Andrew Mason (Webster, N.Y.) evened the score at 75-all with 1:36 left. Daemen came up with a defensive stop at the other end, but RWC forced a turnover to negate a go-ahead try for the Wildcats. On the ensuing Roberts Wesleyan possession, Sischo got tangled up with Clark as he was making his move to the hoop and the Daemen big man was whistled for his fifth and disqualifying foul. Clark sank both free throws of his one-and-one opportunity, putting RWC up 77-75. Daemen had two chances to pull even, but Fasoyiro's driving layup was off the mark and Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) misfired on the front end of a one-and-one after he was fouled going for the offensive rebound. The hosts salted away their victory by making three-of-four free throws in the final eight seconds.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Daemen shot season-highs from the field (52.6%, 30-for-57) and three-point range (38.5%, 10-for-26), but were hampered by turnovers. After committing a season-low eight turnovers in Wednesday's win over D'Youville, Daemen turned it over 19 times tonight. Roberts Wesleyan, which committed just 11 turnovers, held an 18-7 edge in points off miscues.
- Daemen came into the game averaging 19.5 made free throws over their first four games, but were limited to just 5-for-9 from the charity stripe (55.6%) tonight.
- Roberts Wesleyan shot 30-for-55 from the field (54.5%), 13-for-17 from the free throw line (76.5%) and outscored Daemen 46-38 in the paint.
- After Daemen held the lead for 39:30 in Monday's game against the Redhawks, tonight they led for only 5:15.
GAME NOTES
- Roberts Wesleyan came into the game ranked fourth in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll. Daemen is receiving votes, but went unranked in the regional poll for the first time in 35 weeks, a span that dates back to December 2017.
- Sischo, a consensus All-American, entered the game as the country's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 32.3 points and 15.3 rebounds per game.
- Sischo has now recorded 52 double-doubles in his career. He's also scored at least 20 points in 11 straight games, and at least 10 points in 56 straight games. He's reached double-figure scoring 88 times in his career.
- In 94 career games, Sischo has totaled 1,969 points and 978 rebounds. He stands as the only player in program history with at least 1,800 points and 900 rebounds. In addition to becoming the program's all-time leading scorer tonight, he extended his own program record for career field goals, now totaling 782. He stands 13 rebounds shy of Brian Pettit (991) for third all-time, and just 22 rebounds shy of becoming only the third player in team history to reach 1,000.
- Sischo has also moved up among the East Coast Conference all-time leaders in career points. Tonight, he surpassed David Fields of Philadelphia University (1,956) to move into sixth place on the ECC's all-time scoring list. In addition, Sischo ranks second in career field goals and seventh in career rebounds among the ECC's all-time leaders.
- After fouling out one time in the first 91 games of his career, Sischo has now fouled out twice in the last three games.
- Graduate transfer Sean Fasoyiro has made an immediate impact with double-figure scoring in each of Daemen's first five games. Fasoyiro, who played in 81 games over three seasons at Franklin Pierce, is one of only four Daemen players that entered this season with at least 25 games of collegiate experience. He is averaging 14.4 points per game.
- Since being inserted into the starting lineup three games ago, senior guard Kyle Harris is producing 14.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. Harris has hit multiple three-pointers in four of Daemen's five games this season.
- Daemen is coming off back-to-back 24-win seasons that resulted in NCAA tournament berths. Daemen's 89 wins from 2016-17 through 2019-20 represents the most successful four-year span in program history. The Wildcats were hit hard by graduation, losing four of their five starters, all of whom were 1,000-point scorers.
- Today's game was originally scheduled for last Saturday, February 6, but was postponed due to inclement weather and poor travel conditions along Interstate-90.
- It was the second of three meetings between Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan this season. They'll meet again next Wednesday, February 17 at Daemen's Lumsden Gymnasium.
- The 20-game winning streak was Daemen's longest active streak against any single opponent. That factoid now belongs to Houghton which Daemen has defeated 16 times in a row, although they haven't met since the 2011-12 season. Daemen has also won 15 straight games against fellow ECC member Mercy, a team they'll see at Lumsden Gymnasium for a pair of games later this month.
- Despite today's loss, Daemen has won 27 of the last 29 meetings with the Redhawks.
NEXT JUMP BALL
The Wildcats return to action Monday (Feb. 15) when they make the short trek across town to face ECC newcomer D'Youville.
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Support Daemen College's return to intercollegiate athletic competitions by making a contribution to the Game On Campaign and the Daemen Wildcats Gotta Play Fund. This comprehensive fundraising campaign was established to help offset the loss of valuable external revenue streams that directly support Daemen's 17 varsity teams. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.
