LMU, Carson-Newman Earn Spots in DII Bulletin Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
The Division II Bulletin preseason men’s basketball poll was released on Monday, with Lincoln Memorial earning a ranking of No. 13 and Carson-Newman coming in at No. 21.
BEAVERTON, Ore. – The Division II Bulletin preseason men's basketball poll was released on Monday, with Lincoln Memorial earning a ranking of No. 13 and Carson-Newman coming in at No. 21.
Lincoln Memorial went 25-6 overall last season and 15-3 in the SAC to claim the conference's regular-season title. The Railsplitters – who finished as the runners-up at the 2013 Food Lion SAC Basketball Championship – earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament, where they reached the southeast region semifinals.
Among LMU's returnees is forward Vincent Bailey, a member of last season's All-SAC First Team. Bailey averaged 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 2012-13.
Carson-Newman, meanwhile, finished fourth in the last year's SAC standings at 12-6 and went 20-8 overall. C-N reached the semifinals of the SAC Championship before falling to LMU.
Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman had the conference's top-two field goal percentage defenses in 2012-13, with the Railsplitters allowing opponents to shoot just 40-percent from the field and the Eagles allowing 40.5-percent shooting.
Also released on Monday was the DII Bulletin preseason All-America team - the Super 16 - which includes reigning SAC Player of the Year Antoine Davis of Carson-Newman. Davis' teammate Ish Sanders was also named an honorable mention selection to the team.
Davis led the SAC in scoring last season at 18.7 points per game and was 11th in rebounding at 6.0 per game, earning multiple All-Region and All-America accolades. Sanders ranked third in the league in scoring at 18.6 points per game and led the conference with 99 made three-pointers.