Men's Basketball Tabbed As NECC Preseason Favorite

ATTLEBORO, MA - The Elms College men's basketball team has been tabbed as the preseason favorite to capture the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) championship as announced by the league office on Thursday.

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the NECC's head men's basketball coaches.

The Blazers received all eight first-place votes in the 2009 NECC preseason poll. The Blazers are led by ninth-year head coach Ed Silva (144-79) who returns nine players, including senior guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, MA) . Maldonado was an All NECC First Team member in 2008-09 and led the Blazers with 13.8 points per game. He is currently third on Elms' all-time scoring list with 1,161 points.

Elms is also returning senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, CT) a second team All-NECC member from the 2008-09 squad.

Last season, Elms broke a school record with 26 wins, while earning the inuagural NECC title en route to their fifth NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.

Here is how the rest of the poll shaped out.

2009 NECC PRESEASON MEN'S BASKETBALL POLL
TEAM, POINTS (1st Place votes)
1 Elms, 72 (8)
2 Becker, 60
3 Daniel Webster, 56
4 Wheelock, 48
5 Mitchell, 38
6 Southern Vermont, 31
7 Lesley, 25
8 Newbury, 22