ROCK HILL, S.C. – After finishing seventh in the South Atlantic Conference standings last season, the Anderson University men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish eighth in the league this season in a vote by the league's coaches, as released by the conference office late Wednesday morning.
With AU slated to visit Clemson in an exhibition contest tonight and tip off the
regular season at Flagler in nine days, the Trojans will be seeking their fourth consecutive appearance in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament this season and its eighth overall appearance since joining the league in 2010.
The Trojans wrapped up last season with four wins in their final six regular-season contests and feature seven returning letterwinners from last season's 16-13 squad after earning the most home wins since the 2012-13 campaign.
Senior guard Shawn Benard, who played in all 29 games last season, while drawing a starting nod in 28 contests for the Black and Gold, earned Second-Team All-SAC accolades.
The Mobile, Ala., native led the conference and was 22nd in the nation with 175 assists and ranked 17th nationally with 6.0 assists per game after handing out at least five assists on 19 occasions. He dished out a career-high 11 assists in AU's season-opening setback to Lander - which was the most by an AU player since the Trojans joined the SAC for the 2010-11 season – and the fourth-highest tally in program history.
He displayed his versatility nearly every night out, while ranking third in the conference with 1.6 steals per game and was sixth in the league with 46 total steals. Benard, who notched three double-doubles on the season and reached double-figure scoring in 17 contests, was was fourth on the team with nearly 11 points per game a season ago and scored a season-high 24 points twice. He was 20th in the conference with a 74.3 free throw shooting percentage.
"We are excited for Shawn," said Anderson head coach Jeff Brookman. "He's had a great preseason. He had great year last year and was a very important piece of our success. I'm expecting big things from him this season as he steps into even more of a leadership role. He's a returning starter and he's been through it."
Queens, which is ranked No. 8 nationally in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason Poll and 17th by the Division II Bulletin, outdistanced Lincoln Memorial in the voting and was picked to win the 2019-2020 South Atlantic Conference title after picking up eight top votes and receiving 117 points from the panel.
The Royals are the two-time defending NCAA Southeast Region champions and are coming off a 31-5 season a year ago and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second season in a row and the fourth time in program history last season. Queens is expected to return three starters off last year's squad that went 19-1 in league play.
Lincoln Memorial, which is ranked No. 6 nationally by Street and Smith's and ninth by the Division II Bulletin, captured three first-place votes and was picked to finish second after collecting 109 points.
The Railsplitters have won or shared six of the last seven SAC regular-season titles and posted a 20-9 overall record last season, while sharing second place in the league standings last year with Catawba.
Catawba earned the No. 3 position in the poll with 97 points. The Indians, who won the 2019 SAC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship, finished last season with a record of 25-8 overall and 14-6 in SAC play and made their first NCAA postseason appearance in nearly a decade in 2018-19. At No. 4 in the poll was Wingate, who picked up 80 points from the head coaches. The Bulldogs went 17-13 overall and were 12-8 in the SAC last season. Carson-Newman followed with 75 points, landing in the No. 5 position. The Eagles closed out their 2018-19 season at 15-14 overall and 8-12 in the SAC.
Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum tied for the No. 6 spot with 73 points each. The Bears received one first place vote and were an NCAA Southeast Region participant a year ago. They went 21-11 overall and 12-8 in the SAC a season ago. The Pioneers finished the 2018-19 season at 16-13 overall, going 12-8 in conference play.
Anderson came in at No. 8 with 48 points, while Newberry landed at No. 9 in the preseason poll as it collected 44 points from the head coaches. Last season, the Wolves went 10-18 overall and 10-18 in SAC play. Mars Hill came in at No. 10 with 34 points, followed by UVa-Wise with 22 points at No. 11. Coker rounded out the poll as it notched 20 points at No. 12.
The South Atlantic Conference also announced its preseason All-SAC teams. Earning first team honors were Lincoln Memorial's Anthony Brown and Kamaran Calhoun, Queens' Daniel Carr, Catawba's Marcell Hackett, Mars Hill's Ja'Shawn Brooks and Wingate's Frankie Johnson.
The second team was comprised of Benard, Newberry's Angel Sales Jr., Tusculum's Trenton Gibson, Catawba's Devin Cooper, Queens' Van Turner Jr., and UVa-Wise's Briggs Parris.
"Preseason Polls are what they are," added Brookman. "They are basically a reflection of how teams finished last season. Some teams moved around a little, but we aren't worried about preseason rankings. We are in a very competitive conference and everyone has to play everyone else. We will have to play well every night in order to win. We're focused on getting better day by day and understand that it's a process. We want to play hard and compete and hopefully at the end of the day everything shakes out how they're supposed to."
The 2019-20 men's basketball season gets underway on Nov. 1-2 when Lincoln Memorial travels to St. Joseph, Mo., for the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.
Anderson is slated to open the season on the road in a Conference Challenge at Flagler, Nov. 8-9. The Trojans will lead off the two-day event by squaring off against Lander at 1 p.m. at Flagler Gymnasium, while the Trojans and the host Saints will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. that following Saturday.
South Atlantic Conference
2019-20 Men's Preseason Poll (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Queens (8) 117
2. Lincoln Memorial (3) 109
3. Catawba 97
4. Wingate 80
5. Carson-Newman 75
T-6. Lenoir-Rhyne (1) 73
T-6. Tusculum 73
8. Anderson 48
9. Newberry 44
10. Mars Hill 34
11. UVa-Wise 22
12. Coker 20
2019-20 SAC Men's Preseason All-Conference Teams
First Team
Ja'Shawn Brooks, Mars Hill
Marcell Haskett, Catawba
Anthony Brown, Lincoln Memorial
Kamaran Calhoun, Lincoln Memorial
Daniel Carr, Queens
Frankie Johnson, Wingate
Second Team
Angelo Sales Jr., Newberry
Trenton Gibson, Tusculum
Devin Cooper, Catawba
Shawn Benard, Anderson
Van Turner Jr., Queens
Briggs Parris, UVa-Wise
