October 28, 2009

Pirates Picked Ninth In PBC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball squad has been picked to finish ninth in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, released today by the Peach Belt Conference.

Back-to-back Elite Eight finishers Augusta State has been picked to win the league, receiving 10 first-place votes and 142 points total. Clayton State has been picked second, with one first place vote and 123 points. USC Aiken received two first-place votes and is picked third with 118 points.

GCSU (114), Lander (89), Francis Marion (83), Montevallo (80) and North Georgia (74) appear in the poll ahead of the Pirates, who received 57 points total. Columbus State (48) is picked to finish 10th, followed by Georgia Southwestern (47), UNC Pembroke (22) and Flagler (17).

To view the complete poll, click here.

Under first-year head coach Jeremy Luther, the Pirates will try to compensate for the loss of the top four scorers from last season's squad that went 23-7 and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time out of the last six seasons.

Senior point guard Gabriel Robinson leads the eight returnees for AASU after leading the PBC in assists (4.73 per game) a season ago. Other key returnees include senior guard Keron McKenzie (7.3 ppg) and senior forward Marquise Duvall (2.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg).

Six newcomers join the Pirates, including three transfers from Luther's previous school, Newberry College - Brett Goodwell, Grant Domsic and Jesse Wheeler.

The Pirates open up the 2009-10 season on Sunday, November 15, with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Wingate University.