LMU Tops SAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Defending SAC men's basketball champion Lincoln Memorial has been voted No. 1 in the conference's 2013-14 preseason coaches' poll, it was announced on Wednesday.

LMU went 25-6 overall and 15-3 in the SAC in 2012-13 en route to the program's second conference title in three years. After finishing as runners-up at the 2013 Food Lion SAC Basketball Championship, the Railsplitters earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Division II Basketball Championship – their third-straight trip to the tournament.

Lincoln Memorial finished last year ranked 13th in NABC national poll, and has been tabbed 13th in the 2013-14 Division II Bulletin preseason poll. The Railsplitters received seven of the possible 12 first-place votes in the SAC preseason poll.

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Just behind LMU in the preseason poll is Carson-Newman, which received the other five first-place votes. The Eagles - 20-8 overall and 12-6 in the SAC last year – finished fourth in the conference standings, marking their best season since 2007-08.

C-N was led by SAC Player of the Year Antoine Davis and SAC Coach of the Year Chuck Benson – both of whom return in 2013-14.

Anderson is third in the SAC preseason poll, followed by 2013 Food Lion SAC Basketball Tournament champion and Wingate at No. 4. The two teams tied for second in last season's conference standings at 14-4. AU went 19-9 overall, while Wingate – which also earned a selection to the NCAA Tournament – finished 22-9 overall.

Newberry is No. 5 in the poll, while SAC-newcomer Queens is sixth and Lenoir-Rhyne is seventh. Newberry finished sixth in last year's SAC standings at 10-8, Lenoir-Rhyne was fifth at 11-7, and Queens went 12-8 in Conference Carolinas to finish fourth in its division.

Completing the poll are Catawba at No. 8, Tusculum at No. 9, Coker at No. 10, Brevard at No. 11 and Mars Hill at No. 12. Catawba finished seventh in the SAC last year, Tusculum finished eighth, Brevard finished ninth and Mars Hill finished 10th. Coker, meanwhile, was eighth in its division in Conference Carolinas.

Also announced on Wednesday was the 2013-14 preseason All-SAC Team, which is led by Carson-Newman's Davis. An 18.7 point-per-game scorer last year, Davis was named an All-American by DII Bulletin and an All-Region selection by Daktronics in addition to his conference Player of the Year accolades.

In addition to Davis, three more members of last year's All-SAC First Team – Anderson guard Chandler Hash, Carson-Newman guard Ishmael Sanders and LMU forward Vincent Bailey - return as members of the 2013-14 preseason All-Conference First Team.

Hash tied for fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.9 points per game and led the league in free throw shooting at 91.3-percent, Sanders ranked third in scoring at 18.6 points per game and first in three-pointers with 99, and Bailey finished 12th in scoring at 13.5 points per game and fifth in rebounding average at 7.4.

Also earning spots on the preseason First Team are Catawba center Tyrece Littler and Newberry forward Dondray Walker. Both were members of last season's All-SAC Second Team.

Little's scoring average of 16.1 points per game was sixth in the SAC and his rebounding average of 9.1 was third, while Walker averaged 14.3 points per game, good for ninth in the conference.

Making up the preseason All-SAC Second Team are LMU guard Lorenza Ross – a 2012-13 All-SAC Second Team pick – Wingate center Deion Turman, Wingate guard Ryan Daye, Coker guard Julian Nelson, Catawba guard Elon Edwards and Lenoir-Rhyne guard R.J. McClure.

The 2013-14 SAC men's basketball regular season officially gets underway on Saturday, Nov. 9.

2013-14 SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

2013-14 SAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team

First Team

Second Team