West Babylon, N.Y. - Daemen College's Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) was named the East Coast Conference Player of the Year at Friday night's conference awards dinner to headline the 2018-19 Men's Basketball All-Conference recipients. Molloy senior 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 St. Thomas Aquinas freshman guard Demetre Roberts (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) takes claimed the ECC Rookie of the Year honor.
Coming off being the league's Rookie of the Year in 2018, there was no sophomore slump for Sischo this season as he claims the ECC Player of the Year award. Sischo enters the ECC Championship with averages of 21.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, both good for second best in the league. He also owns the top field goal percentage in the league at 58.6 percent. All of Sischo's totals rank among the national leaders, as well, ranking 25th in points per game, 14th in rebounds per game, 14th in rebounds per game, and fourth with 17 double-doubles.
For the third straight year, Jenkins earns the league's Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior guard finished first in the ECC with 60 steals and 2.22 steals per game. His steals per game mark is also 29th best in the nation. Jenkins ranked in the top-10 in the ECC with 22 blocks and 7.6 rebounds per game, as well, and despite playing the guard position, he ranked in the top-50 in Division II with 6.1 rebounds per game.
A five-time ECC Rookie of the Week, Roberts had an impressive debut season for the Spartans. He tallied 11.4 points per game on 42.3 percent shooting while starting each of St. Thomas Aquinas' 28 games. In addition, the freshman point guard finished sixth in the league with 3.1 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game in helping lead the Spartans to a 23-5 record and the No. 2 seed in the ECC Championship.
Mike MacDonald from Daemen has been voted the Coach of the Year by his peers. Under his guidance, Daemen 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 Wildcats are also positioned for the program's first-ever NCAA Championship berth, entering this weekend's conference championship ranked No. 2 in the NCAA East Regional rankings.
The ECC also announced its Men's Basketball All-Conference teams. Jenkins and Sischo are joined on the All-Conference First Team by bakary Camara (Jr., G/F, Bridgeport), Osbel Caraballo (Fr., F, St. Thomas Aquinas), Nick Corbett (Jr., G, Molloy), and Bryan Griffin (So., F, Mercy).
Roberts is joined on the All-Conference Second Team by Deion Hamilton (Sr., G/F, Daemen), Peyton McLaurin (Sr., G/F, Roberts Wesleyan), Alonzo Ortiz-Traylor (So., G/F, LIU Post), and Jeff Redband (Jr., F, Daemen).
The ECC Third Team is comprised of Hasheem Abba (So., F/C, Bridgeport), Sekou Cisse (Jr., F, St. Thomas Aquinas), Breon Harris (Jr., G, Daemen), Zachary Olukanni (Jr., G, Dist. Columbia), and Mike Torre (Sr., F, Molloy).
2018-2019 ECC Men’s Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Bakary Camara, Bridgeport
Osbel Caraballo, St. Thomas Aquinas
Nick Corbett, Molloy
Bryan Griffin, Mercy
Curtis Jenkins, Molloy
Andrew Sischo, Daemen
Second Team
Deion Hamilton, Daemen
Peyton McLaurin, Roberts Wesleyan
Alonzo Ortiz-Traylor, LIU Post
Jeff Redband, Daemen
Demetre Roberts, St. Thomas Aquinas
Third Team
Hashem Abbas, Bridgeport
Sekou Cisse, St. Thomas Aquinas
Breon Harris, Daemen
Zachary Olukanni, Dist. Columbia
Mike Torre, Molloy
Player of the Year: Andrew Sischo, Daemen
Defensive Player of the Year: Curtis Jenkins, Molloy
Rookie of the Year: Demetre Roberts, St. Thomas Aquinas
Coach of the Year: Mike MacDonald, Daemen
