Men's Basketball Named NECC Preseason Favorite
ELMS COLLEGE NAMED NECC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON FAVORITE
ATTLEBORO, MA, Nov. 13, 2008 - The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) announced its preseason men's basketball coaches poll and Elms College was named the conference's preseason favorite on Thursday afternoon.
The Blazers, who were recently ranked 25th nationally in the preseason D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, garnered all eight first place votes and totaled 72 points in the NECC's voting.
Becker, a former North Atlantic Conference (NAC) foe of Elms College, tallied 61 points to finish second in the eight-team poll.
The Blazers, who won a school-record 23 games (23-7) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship last season, return five starters, including guards Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) and Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT), who combined to average 28.3 points and 6.6 assists in 2007-08.
In all, Elms College returns 82-percent of its scoring offense and 78-percent of its total rebounding from a record-setting season in which the Blazers became the first team in any sport in school-history to win a NCAA Championship tournament game following a 71-53 win over Scranton.
Under eighth-year head coach Ed Silva, the Blazers have enjoyed unprecedented success. In his first seven seasons, Coach Silva has guided the program to a record of 118-77 (.608 winning percentage), including four consecutive conference tournament titles and NCAA Division III Championship berths.
2008 NECC PRESEASON MEN'S BASKETBALL POLL
(1st place votes in parentheses)
1. Elms, 72 (8)
2. Becker, 61
3. Lesley, 55
4. Daniel Webster, 43
5. Newbury, 39
6. Mitchell, 30
6. Southern Vermont, 30
8. Wheelock, 22