October 28, 2009

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Stoney Polite and Danny Sanders were chosen on the preseason All-South Atlantic Conference second team. Mars Hill received 33 points for sixth place.

Sanders, from Shelby, N.C., ranked seventh in the league last season in scoring at 16.8 points per game. Last year, Polite, who hails from Morganton, N.C., averaged 9.9 points per game and eclipsed 1,000 points scored for his career.

Catawba, which has won back-to-back Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament titles, is the preseason favorite to win the 2009-10 regular season crown.

Mars Hill will open the 2009-10 season with an exhibition game at Appalachian State on November 6 at 7:30 p.m. The first regular season game will be inside Stanford Arena on November 16 against Milligan at 7 p.m.

2009-10 Men's Coaches Preseason Poll

Poll (1st) Points
1. Catawba (6) 77
2. Tusculum (2) 68
3. Lincoln Memorial 63
4. Lenoir-Rhyne (1) 58
5. Wingate 39
6. Mars Hill 33
7. Carson-Newman 30
8. Brevard 24
9. Newberry 13

Men's Preseason All-Conference

FIRST TEAM
Jonathan Whitson, Brevard
Rob Fields, Catawba
Antonio Houston, Catawba
D.J. Blackmon, Lenoir-Rhyne
D'Mario Curry, Lincoln Memorial
Kyle Moore, Tusculum

SECOND TEAM
Jordan Dixon, Carson-Newman
Marcus Hodges, Lenoir-Rhyne
Desmond Johnson, Lincoln Memorial
Stoney Polite, Mars Hill
Danny Sanders, Mars Hill
Josh Bennett, Tusculum

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