Messiah Picked To Finish Fifth In Conference Pre-Season Poll
Posted: 11/10/2008
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Head coach Rick Van Pelt will be looking to improve on the league's pre-season coaches poll prognostication this year.

Annville, PA — If the Messiah men’s basketball team wants to improve on its fifth-place finish in the MAC Commonwealth Conference from a year ago, it will have to surprise some people along the way. The Falcons were selected to finish fifth in the league’s annual pre-season coaches poll, the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation announced Monday.

“How well we compete defensively will determine whether we finish above or below expectations, in my opinion,” said Messiah head coach Rick Van Pelt. “I’ve told our team that I believe we’ll rank in the standings wherever our defensive field goal percentage ranks. That’s how important I believe our defensive approach is to our success this year.”

Messiah finished with a 15-10 overall record last season and a 4-6 mark in MAC Commonwealth Conference play, narrowly missing out on the conference playoffs on the final day of the season. Senior Jason Miller and juniors Andy Hawk and Jamie Yoder are expected to lead the team on a variety of fronts, as the Falcons look to replace first-team all-conference selection Darryl Brown (12.0 ppg) and John Boyd (7.6 ppg) — both of whom were lost to graduation. But second-team all-conference pick Hawk, who ranked 13th in points (10.8 ppg) and sixth in rebounds (5.6 rpg) will be able to pick up where he left off last season.

“Andy will be a big key for us in a lot of areas, but for us to be successful we’ll have to have a variety of guys step up for us on the offensive end,” Van Pelt said. “We will not be a one, or two, or even a three-man show if we want to win a lot of league games this year.”

Messiah will look to dethrone pre-season pick Widener University — among others — in its pursuit of a league title. Widener has been chosen as the favorite to win the Commonwealth Conference crown, as the Pride (23-6, 6-4 CC) received 43 points and six first-place votes.

Led by seniors Charles Jones (15.7 ppg), Nyere Miller (12.3 ppg), and Matt Sosna (10.3 ppg), the Pride look to repeat as conference champions and return to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight season. Jones was named a first-team all-conference selection a season ago.

After a victory over Averett University in last year’s tournament, Widener is ranked seventh in the 2008-09 Small College Hoops Preseason Poll and 23rd in the D3Hoops.com poll.

Lycoming (17-10, 7-3 CC) places second in the poll with 34 points.

The Warriors under first-year head coach Guy Rancourt look to rebound after last season’s conference championship loss after being the first seed in the conference tournament.

The squad brings back first-team all-conference selection junior Eric Anthony, who placed fourth in the conference with 14.7 points per game. Senior Greg Sye, a second-team all-conference pick, returns as he posted 10.9 points per game. Classmate Jemayne Nowlin joins Sye in the starting lineup, after his 7.0 points per game in 26 games played.

Tied for third place in the poll is Lebanon Valley with 32 votes and one first-place vote.
The Dutchmen (11-15, 5-5 CC) bring back their two senior guards in Kyle Enoch and Dan Hodge who led the team to a conference playoff birth last season as the fourth seed.
Enoch, a second-team all-conference selection, recorded 12.6 points per contest, good for seventh-best in the conference. Hodge, the 6-3 guard, finished 10th in the conference a season ago, tallying 11.9 points per game in 26 games on the floor. Classmate Eric Humphrey will also add leadership after giving Lebanon Valley 7.1 points per game in 25 games.

Albright (17-9, 6-4 CC) comes in tied for third with Lebanon Valley in the poll with 32 votes.

The Lions try to mirror last season’s second-place finish in the conference but have to replace many standouts from last season

After losing first-team all-conference selection Albert Medora, who finished fifth in points scored (13.9) and first in rebounds (10.3) per game in addition to Tom Murphy (10.8 ppg), Albright holds onto 6-11 senior center Phil Hall (6.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and junior Andre Murphy, who recorded 9.2 points per contest as a second-year guard. The 2008-09 season will mark the 100th year for Lions men’s basketball.

Following Messiah (with 21 points in the poll) is rival Elizabethtown (15-9, 2-8 CC), as the Blue Jays occupy the sixth seed in the poll with 19 points.

The Blue Jays will play this season without graduates Mike Schatzmann and Chad Piersol, both one and two in the conference in scoring a season ago. Both players also finished in the top ten in rebounding as well. Schatzmann, who scored 20.2 points and brought down 5.1 rebounds per game, was named a first-team all-conference selection in 2007-08. Piersol had similar success, posting 17.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while being named to the second-team all-conference squad. Elizabethtown does however return senior Phil Shaffer (4.5 ppg), juniors Mike Church (11.7 ppg) and Chris Fairbanks, and sophomore Keith Fogel (5.9 ppg).

Arcadia (12-13, 6-6 Freedom Conference) places seventh in the poll with 15 points.

The Knights look to overcome last season’s loss to Manhattanville that would have secured them a playoff birth in the Freedom Conference. Arcadia, while losing Sterling Green, Eric Elliott, and Kevin Brown, bring back seniors Terrell Varnado, Blaise Pepitone, and Damien Palentino. Green, who was a three-year player for the Knights, finished his career as an Arthur Ashe Jr. Scholar Athlete (716 points, 127 assists, 251 rebounds, 107 steals). In addition, Elliott was a 1,000-point scorer for Arcadia during his career.

2008-2009 Commonwealth Conference Men’s Basketball Pre-Season Poll
1. Widener — 43 points (6)
2. Lycoming — 34 points (2)
3t. Lebanon Valley — 32 points (1)
3t. Albright — 32 points
5. Messiah — 21 points
6. Elizabethtown — 19 points
7. Arcadia — 15 points

( ) first place votes in parentheses

This press release was provided by the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation and the Commonwealth Conference.