Lions Tabbed to finish Tenth in SAC

ROCK HILL, S.C.-- The Mars Hill men's basketball team has been picked to finish tenth in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released Wednesday.

Mars Hill received 12 points in the poll, which places them two behind Brevard. MHC is coming off a season in which it finished 6-22 overall and 3-15 in conference play. This will be the Lions' first season under new head coach Rick Scruggs. Mars Hill will be looking to replace Sammy Emile, who was last season's leading scorer in NCAA Division II.

This year's Mars Hill squad will feature plenty of new faces, with ten new additions to the program. The Lion roster features eight freshman. Mars Hill's lone senior, Khouraichi Thiam, averaged 8.3 points per game last season with a rebounding average of 6.3 boards per game.

Wingate, last season's SAC Tournament champion, was picked as the preseason favorite. The Bulldogs went 21-12 and finished third in the regular season SAC standings with a 13-5 record. Wingate got hot late in the season, advancing to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship after winning the conference tournament. The Bulldogs received five first-place votes.

Just behind Wingate with two first-place votes was Lincoln Memorial. The Railsplitters went 26-6 overall and advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, before falling to eventual champion Montevallo.

Newberry finished third in the preseason poll with a single first-place vote. The Wolves rode a young team to a fourth-place finish in the SAC standings and a 16-12 record last season. Last season's SAC Freshman of the Year, Dondray Walker, is the top returner for Newberry.

Carson-Newman and Anderson each earned a first-place vote to finish fourth and fifth respectively. The Trojans are the reigning SAC regular season champs and return the 2011-12 SAC Player of the Year, Denzail Jones.

Lenoir-Rhyne, Tusculum, Catawba, Brevard and Mars Hill rounded out the poll.

2012-13 SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

Team Points (1st-place votes)
1. Wingate 77 (5)
2. Lincoln Memorial 73 (2)
3. Newberry 62 (1)
4. Carson-Newman 57 (1)
5. Anderson 54 (1)
6. Lenoir-Rhyne 43
7. Tusculum 30
8. Catawba 28
9. Brevard 14
10. Mars Hill 12