November 2, 2011

Men's Basketball picked to win SSAC in preseason poll

By Matt Green

NORCROSS, Ga. -- The 2011-12 Southern States Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll has Shorter University as the favorite to win the East Division and the league championship, the conference announced Tuesday.

The Hawks, who finished the 2010-11 campaign with a record of 23-8 and 7-5 in the conference and are ranked No. 12 in this season's NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, gathered six first place votes from East Division coaches and 11 first place votes overall to garner 166 points and finish ahead of Lee University (148), the University of Mobile (133) and 20th-ranked Southern Poly (131) in the preseason league rankings.

Shorter returns four starters and six of its top eight scorers from last year's roster, including last season's SSAC Newcomer of the Year and NAIA All-America selection Walter Hill, who averaged 17.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

The Hawks also return point guard Eric Nix, who ranked second in the country in assists last season, and forward Johnathan Crawford, who averaged 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 2010-11.

Shorter will also welcome contributions from four highly touted junior transfers: former Lambuth standout Devance Harris, NJCAA All-Region selection Kenny Leverette from Southwestern Illinois, 2010-11 NAIA All-America pick C.J. Davis from Union (Tenn.) and 2010-11 second team All-Atlantic Sun choice Anthony Banks, who led NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast in scoring and rebounding. While Harris and Leverette have hit the ground running with the Hawks, Davis and Banks become eligible to play in December.

Shorter opened the 2011-12 season last night with a 99-80 win over Point University. Junior forward Dante Harvey, in his second season with the Hawks after transferring from NCAA Division I Tennessee-Chattanooga, led the way with his first career double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Hill scored 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting in just 16 minutes of work, Willie Woodard poured in a career-high 17 points and Crawford and Darius Steger chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Shorter is now 18-0 since the start of the 2009-10 season in the month of November.

Conference play begins Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, when the Hawks play host to West Division foes Faulkner and Auburn-Montgomery. Crossover games within the SSAC count towards conference records this season and this year's championship tournament, once again held at The Forum in Rome, will feature the top five teams from each division.

The play-in and quarterfinal games will be held at the Darlington School with the semifinals and finals slated for The Forum.

2011-12 SSAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

School	Points
Shorter	166 (11)
Lee	148 (2)
Mobile	133
Southern Poly	131
William Carey	129
Emmanuel	107
Faulkner	88
Belhaven	80
Auburn-Montgomery	74
Loyola	68
Southern Wesleyan	45
Spring Hill	40

2011-12 SSAC Men's Basketball Preseason East Division Coaches' Poll

School	Points
Shorter	36 (6)
Lee	31 (1)
Southern Poly	26
Emmanuel	21
Southern Wesleyan	14
Truett-McConnell	11
Brewton-Parker	8