CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (Oct. 31, 2015) - The LIU Post men's basketball team was voted to finish third in the East Coast Conference in 2015-16, according to a preseason poll released by the league office on Thursday.
The Pioneers, who return two starters from last season, received 97 points in the ledger, including one first-place vote. Reigning league champion University of Bridgeport garnered eight of the 11 first-place nods and 118 points, after being chosen as the preseason favorite for the third-consecutive season.
St. Thomas Aquinas College, the 2014-15 runner-up, was second with 109 points and two first-place votes. Daemen College (86 points) and Molloy College (65 points) rounded out the poll's Top-5.
Last year, senior point guard
Dillon Burns (Staten Island, N.Y.), an NABC Honors Court selection, led the ECC in assists (124) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5). He averaged 6.6 points per game, while shooting 39.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Junior forward
Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.) had the fourth-highest field-goal percentage in the league at .526. He also ranked third in the ECC in blocks (43), in addition to boasting a scoring average of 11.3.
Head Coach
Erik Smiles and his LIU Post squad open the 2015-16 season on Saturday, Nov. 14 in Wilmington, Del. against University of the Sciences at 1 p.m., as part of the Goldey-Beacom College Tip-Off Tournament.
2015-16 ECC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll1. Bridgeport (Eight First-Place Votes) - 118 Points
2. St. Thomas Aquinas (Two First-Place Votes) - 109 Points
3. LIU Post (One First-Place Vote) - 97 Points4. Daemen - 86 Points
5. Molloy - 65 Points
6. Dowling - 57 Points
7. Queens - 51 Points
8. Mercy - 46 Points
9. NYIT - 37 Points
10. Dist. Columbia - 31 Points
11. Roberts Wesleyan - 29 Points