By: Brendon Reese
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Mount Union's men's basketball team was picked to finish first in the Ohio Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Purple Raiders received 64 points in the poll, including all eight first place votes, as coaches cannot vote for their own team. They were also receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 Poll.
Mount Union finished last season 18-9 overall, going 14-4 in OAC play and advancing to the OAC Tournament Championship game for the sixth time in the last seven seasons and the fourth consecutive season.
The Raiders return a pair of All-OAC selections from a year ago in junior
Elijah Farrington (Massillon / Massillon Washington) and sophomore
Chance Casenhiser (Uniontown / Lake). Farrington was a Second Team Selection; he averaged 13.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game last season. Casenhiser was named Honorable Mention and Freshman of the Year, along with being named the D3hoops.com Region 7 Rookie of the Year after averaging 10 points and 2.7 assists on the season.
Senior
Kevin Moore (Youngstown / Campbell Memorial) also returns for Mount Union after averaging 8.2 points and leading the team in three-point percentage and senior
Caleb Laurich (Akron / Copley) will be back after missing most of last season due to injury.
The Raiders open their season on Saturday, November 8 in Middletown, Pa. at 4 p.m. against Penn State Harrisburg.
OAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
- Mount Union 64 (8)
- Marietta 53 (1)
- Muskingum 47
- Otterbein 44
- Baldwin Wallace 34
- Capital 31
- Heidelberg 22
- Ohio Northern 19
- Wilmington 10
**First place votes in parentheses, coaches could not vote for their own team in the poll
