West Babylon, N.Y. - St. Thomas Aquinas senior guard/forward Justin Reyes (Haverhill, Mass.) has been named the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year, wrapping up his storied career by earning the honor for the third straight season. Molloy junior guard Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) also repeats as one of the league's major award winners by being selected as the Defensive Player of the Year, while Daemen freshman center Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) takes home the ECC Rookie of the Year honor.
Reyes led the way for the Spartans once again in 2017-18. He finished the regular season second in the ECC with a 22.4 points per game average and a 58.2 shooting percentage. He led the league with 10.1 rebounds per game as well, leading to 16 double-doubles, good for ninth in all of Division II. Reyes continued to stuff the stat-sheet, also ranking in the league's top-10 in blocks (second - 48) and steals (10th - 45). In addition, he put together a record breaking season, becoming the ECC's all-time career leader in points and field goals made.
After sharing the honor with Bridgeport's Kyle Benjamin a year ago, Jenkis is the sole winner of this year's defensive player of the year honor. Jenksin was a lock down defender typically tasked with guarding the opponents best player. He led the ECC and ranked 13th nationally with 2.76 steals per game. He was also fifth in the league in rebounding with 6.9 per game from the guard position.
Sischo had a standout debut season for the Wildcats. Sischo was an eight-time ECC Rookie of the Week honoree, the most in a season since Molloy's John Petrcuelli was a nine-time winner in 2010-11. He was a force in the paint, finishing sixth in the ECC with a 15.8 point per game average and second in the league with 8.4 rebounds per game. He also finished second with a shooting percentage of 57.8.
Mike Ruane from Bridgeport earns his peers' vote as Coach of the Year. Under his guidance, Bridgeport finished with a 24-4 mark and also earned the No. 1 seed and Regular Season Championship with a near-unblemished 17-1 mark in ECC play. The Purple Knights are also positioned for an NCAA Championship berth, entering the ECC Championship ranked No. 2 in the NCAA East Regional rankings.
The ECC also announced its Men's Basketball All-Conference teams. Reyes and Sischo are joined on the All-Conference First Team by Nick Corbett (So., G, Molloy), Jeffrey Hayden (Jr., F, NYIT), Sam Joseph (Sr., G, Bridgeport), and Jared Rivers (So., G, LIU Post).
Jenkins is joined on the All-Conference Second Team by Sharif Cobb (Sr., G, Bridgeport), Shaquille McFarlan (Sr., G, St. Thomas Aquinas), James Mitchell (Sr., G, St. Thomas Aquinas), D'Vonne Trumbo (Jr., G, Bridgeport).
The ECC Third Team is comprised of Tyrone Hall (Sr., G, Queens), Breon Harris (So., G, Daemen), Isaiah Lewis (So., G, Roberts Wesleyan), Jeff Redband (So., F, Daemen), and Jay Sarkis (So., G, Daemen).
2017-2018 ECC Men’s Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Nick Corbett, Molloy
Jeffrey Hayden, NYIT
Sam Joseph, Bridgeport
Justin Reyes, St. Thomas Aquinas
Jared Rivers, LIU Post
Andrew Sischo, Daemen
Second Team
Sharif Cobb, Bridgeport
Curtis Jenkins, Molloy
Shaquille McFarlan, St. Thomas Aquinas
James Mitchell, St. Thomas Aquinas
D'Vonne Trumbo, Bridgeport
Third Team
Tyrone Hall, Queens
Breon Harris, Daemen
Isaiah Lewis, Roberts Wesleyan
Jeff Redband, Daemen
Jay Sarkis, Daemen
Player of the Year: Justin Reyes, St. Thomas Aquinas
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Sischo, Daemen
Defensive Player of the Year: Curtis Jenkins, Molloy
Coach of the Year: Mike Ruane, Bridgeport
