Men's Basketball Picked 3rd in Preseason Poll

Men's Basketball Picked 3rd in Preseason Poll

LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's basketball team was picked third in the Centennial Conference preseason poll.

The Bears earned 114 points in a survey of the league's coaches and sports information directors, trailing only Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins. The defending conference champion and national runner-up Garnet, picked No. 1 in the D3hoops.com preseason top-25, received 14 first-place votes and 149 points, while the Blue Jays grabbed the remaining six first-place votes and 149 points.

Franklin & Marshall garnered 106 points to place fourth, and Washington College rounded out the projected playoff field with 98 points. Muhlenberg (89 points) was sixth, followed by Dickinson (82), Haverford (42), Gettysburg (38), and McDaniel (26).

Following a third consecutive trip to the CC semifinals, expectations are high as the Bears enter the 2019-20 campaign, the 20th under head coach Kevin Small. Ryan McTamney is the focal point of an offense that led the conference in 3-point percentage (39.5) while ranking second in scoring (78.2 PPG) a year ago. Ursinus' lone senior was a tenth of a point from the league scoring title last season, averaging 17.1 points per game to go with nearly six rebounds in collecting second team All-CC honors. He enters his final year 71 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Ryan Hughes joins McTamney in the back court following a terrific debut season in which he averaged 9.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per contest. Hughes was an efficient playmaker, shooting an even 50.0 percent from the field while offering a threat from long distance (38.2 percent on 3-pointers).

Ursinus will feature an athletic frontcourt filled with returning contributors, including juniors Bruce Edwards, George Gordon, and Lucas Olshevski. Edwards (4.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.8 APG) is one of the best athletes in the conference, while Gordon (8.6 PPG, 53.5 % FG) and Olshevski (5.3 PPG, 55.6 % FG) were models of efficiency on the interior. All three will be tasked with upping their production to maximize what figures to be a condensed rotation.

Peyton Vostenak and Jack Packer saw some action a year ago, and Small will hope for contributions from a four-man class of newcomers.

The Bears tip off their season November 8 at Lycoming, where they take on Saint Vincent in the opener of the Dutch Birch Tournament. The Centennial and home opener pits Ursinus against top-ranked Swarthmore on December 4.  

2019 Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

Rank | Institution (First-Place Votes)             

Points

1. Swarthmore (14)

156

2. Johns Hopkins (6)

149

3. Ursinus 

114

4. Franklin & Marshall

106

5. Washington College

98

6. Muhlenberg

89

7. Dickinson

82

8. Haverford

42

9. Gettysburg

38

10. McDaniel

26