West Liberty Men No. 1 Again in MEC Poll

Men's Basketball | 11/1/2016 12:33:00 PM

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference men's basketball coaches have made West Liberty an overwhelming favorite to claim its fourth straight MEC championship.
Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers, ranked No. 1 in The Sporting News' NCAA Division II preview and fresh off their third NCAA Division II Final Four appearance in the past four seasons, received 10 of the 12 first-place votes and 120 points in the preseason coaches' poll during Tuesday's MEC Media Day.
It's a familiar spot for Crutchfield and his perennial powerhouse program, which has averaged more than 31 wins a season over the past seven years while rolling to seven consecutive conference titles.
The veteran head man must replace a pair of key contributors in two-time NCAA Division II Player of the Year Seger Bonifant and clutch-shooting Mike Lamberti but Crutchfield, whose career winning percentage (331-54, .853) ranks No. 1 all-time among coaches with 10 or more seasons at the helm of NCAA programs, is no stranger to the reloading process.
Heading into his 13th year, he's added two NCAA Division I transfers to a talented mix that includes three All-MEC starters and several lettermen from last year's 31-4 squad along with some talented freshmen.
The three returning starters boast impressive resumes. Devin Hoehn (15.6 ppg.) is a 6-2 guard with more than 1,300 career points and 240 3-point field goals under his belt while fellow second-team All-MEC senior Zac Grossenbacher, a 6-8 post, nearly averaged a double-double (12.1 ppg., 9.4 rpg.) in the paint. Electrifying sophomore guard David Dennis, a 6-1 blur, was the MEC Freshman of the Year after exploding onto the scene with 14 points and nearly 6 assists and 6 rebounds a night.
New faces include Dan Monteroso, a 6-3 junior guard who spent the last three seasons playing football at Purdue. A St. Clairsville, Ohio native, Monteroso was one of the top 20 scorers in Ohio high school basketball history. The other transfer is James Griffin, a 6-5 sophomore who played in 19 games at Marist (N.Y.) as a true freshman two years ago before sitting out last season as an injury redshirt.
Not to be overlooked are six returning lettermen who combined to average 26 points and knock down nearly 100 3-pointers a year ago along with a trio of talented freshmen.
The Hilltoppers won't lack for obstacles in their pursuit of an eighth consecutive conference crown as the MEC has emerged as one of the nation's premier NCAA Division II basketball leagues. West Liberty and Wheeling Jesuit each occupied the No. 1 spot in the national Top 25 at some point a year ago and three MEC squads – the Hilltoppers, Cardinals and Fairmont State – finished the year in the Top 10.
Fairmont State got 109 points to edge WJU (103) for the No. 2 spot in the coaches' poll with each team collecting a first-place vote. Notre Dame (84) was a distant fourth, just ahead of Charleston (83), to round out the top five. Concord and Shepherd tied for No. 6 with 61 points, just ahead of W.Va. Wesleyan (58) and Glenville State (50). W.Va. State (29), Urbana (20) and UVa-Wise (14) completed the list.
The Hilltoppers take the lid off the 2016-17 season at home on Nov. 11 when they host Cheyney (Pa.) in the MEC/PSAC Challenge. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.

MEN'S BASKETBALL
2016-17 MEC Preseason Poll
Team Pts
1. WEST LIBERTY (10) 120
2. Fairmont State (1) 109
3. Wheeling Jesuit (1) 103
4. Notre Dame 84
5. Charleston 83
6. Concord 61
(tie) Shepherd 61
8. W.Va. Wesleyan 58
9. Glenville State 50
10. W.Va. State 29
11. Urbana 20
12. UVa-Wise 14

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