The South Atlantic Conference Announces Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll & All-Conference Teams

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Defending South Atlantic Conference Champion Lincoln Memorial has been picked to win the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship as voted by the League's head coaches, the League announced today.  The Railsplitters picked up nine top votes and received 130 points from the panel.

Lincoln Memorial turned in an overall record of 28-3 and 20-2 in South Atlantic Conference play.  The Railsplitters won a game in the 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship and finished the year ranked No. 6 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) final poll.  Lincoln Memorial comes into the 2014-15 campaign ranked No. 25 by the NABC.

Newberry placed second in the poll as it garnered three top votes and 117 points.  The Wolves went 19-9 overall and 14-8 in the SAC a season ago and made a run to the SAC Men's Basketball Championship semifinals.

At the No. 3 position in the poll was Queens who picked up 108 points from the head coaches.  The Royals went 14-13 overall and 12-10 in the South Atlantic Conference last season.  Wingate was close behind Queens as it picked up 100 points.  The Bulldogs closed out their 2013-14 season at 14-13 overall and 11-11 in the SAC.

Anderson rounded out the top five with 97 points.  The Trojans were 22-10 overall and 15-7 in the SAC and made a run to the 2014 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Final.  The Trojans also earned an at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

Lenoir-Rhyne came in at No. 6 with 76 points, followed by Carson-Newman with 75 points and Coker who picked up 54 points.  Brevard's 47 points was good for the No. 9 position, while Tusculum landed at No. 10 with 43 points.  Catawba (41 points) and Mars Hill (38 points) rounded out the poll.

The South Atlantic Conference also announced its Preseason All-Conference Teams with Newberry's Dondray Walker headlining the first-team.  A first team All-SAC selection a season ago, Walker was tabbed an honorable mention All-American by the Sporting News.  Walker averaged 16.2 points per contest for the Wolves a season-ago.

Lorenza Ross of Lincoln Memorial and Ryan Daye of Wingate joined Walker on the first-team.  Ross posted 10.0 points per game last season to earn second-team All-SAC honors, while Day poured in 17.5 ppg to earn second-team honors as well.

Darius Moose of Brevard, Demarkus Smith of Newberry and Myson Jones from Anderson rounded out the list of preseason first-team honorees.  Moose posted 19.8 points per outing last season to rank No. 3 in the South Atlantic Conference.  Smith finished the year with 16.3 ppg and Jones closed out his 2013-14 campaign with 11.9 points per outing.

Earning second-team honors were Luquon Choice of Lincoln Memorial, Kijuan Arrington of Catawba, Anderson's Chris Ross, Larry Felder from Coker, Carson-Newman's Jared Johnson and Isaiah Cuthbertson from Mars Hill.

The 2014-15 Men's Basketball season gets underway on Friday Nov. 14.

Men's Preseason All-Conference

First Team:
Dondray Walker, Newberry
Lorenza Ross, Lincoln Memorial
Ryan Daye, Wingate
Darius Moose, Brevard
Demarkus Smith, Newberry
Myson Jones, Anderson

Second Team:
Luquon Choice, Lincoln Memorial
Kijuan Arrington, Catawba
Chris Ross, Anderson
Larry Felder, Coker
Jared Johnson, Carson-Newman
Isaiah Cuthbertson, Mars Hill