Men's Basketball | 10/28/2021 11:01:00 AM
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team has been selected to finish eighth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division as voted on by the league's head coaches and announced by the conference office Thursday morning.
The Shippensburg University Raiders were picked to finish atop the Eastern Division while the IUP Crimson Hawks claimed the top spot in the West.
The Raiders picked up seven of the possible nine first-place votes in the preseason poll. Shippensburg finished the year with a 24-7 overall mark and an 18-4 league mark finishing first in the East in 2019-20. Ship made it all the way to the PSAC Championship Tournament Final, falling to IUP. The Raiders also earned a spot in the NCAA DII Men's Basketball Tournament, but the first game of the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
Shippensburg has won at least 20 games in five consecutive years and return one All-PSAC player in Jake Biss who was a 2020 First Team honoree. Ship returns 10 players from the 2019-20 season, including three starters.
East Stroudsburg was selected to finish second in the East following a 20-9, 15-7 year. They finished second in 2019-20 and have seven of their top 10 scorers back on the roster. ESU played in the PSAC Championship Tournament semi's before being eliminated by IUP.
Selected third in the PSAC East is West Chester. The Golden Rams are coming off a 20-win season, earning a record of 20-10 overall. They were 13-9 in league games and they also climbed to eighth in the DII National Poll at one point, the highest they had been ranked since 1983. WCU received one first-place vote in the preseason poll.
The Huskies, under the direction of 16-yard head coach
John Sanow, are back to action after a layoff in 2020-21 and after finishing 11-17 for the 2019-20 season and 8-14 in PSAC East play. During the 2019-20 season, the Huskies averaged 82.3 points per game and shot 46.6% from the field.
During the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies were ranked third in the PSAC in scoring offense and had the fourth-best shooting percentage in the conference.
The Huskies had the third-best rebounding offense, averaging 39.1 rebound per game in 2019-20 and averaged 27.3 defensive rebounds per game.
The Huskies return
Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll),
Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard), and
Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) as key pieces of the Bloomsburg offense. Anderson averaged 17.1 points per game in 2019-20 and Elmore averaged 9.6 points per game. Bloomsburg opens the year on the road at Chestnut Hill College on November 17 and are scheduled to begin PSAC action on December 3 when they host Cal U for a 7:30 pm tip off.
2021-22 Men's Basketball Preseason Polls
EAST
1. Shippensburg (7)
2. East Stroudsburg
3. West Chester (1)
4. Millersville (1)
5. Kutztown
6. Shepherd
7. Lock Haven
8. Bloomsburg
9. Mansfield
WEST
1. IUP (7)
2. Mercyhurst
3. Pitt-Johnstown (2)
4. Cal U
5. Gannon
6. Slippery Rock
7. Clarion
8. Edinboro
9. Seton Hill
