2015-16 CCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll Release

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's basketball team has been tabbed as the top team in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Preseason Poll, as selected by the league's 10 head coaches.

Endicott received 95 points and seven first place votes headed into the 2015-16 season after posting a 23-6 record overall in 2014-15, which included a 16-2 showing in conference games.

Second-year head coach Kevin Bettencourt and the Gulls are coming off the program's sixth CCC Championship-winning season, defeating Wentworth, 90-60, to hoist their second trophy in the last four years, before falling to No. 17 Stockton in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The team returns a strong junior class led by All-CCC First Team/CCC Co-Player of the Year guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.). Walker also earned D3 Hoops.com All-Northeast Region Third Team honors and was named to the ECAC Division III Third Team. Walker led the team with 515 points and averaged 17.8 points per game. Guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) was named to the All-CCC Second Team after finishing second on the team with 366 points. Forward Daquan Sampson (Jacksonville, N.C.) paced the team in rebounds (193) and recorded six double-doubles on the season.

Nichols College, last season's regular season champions, was slated second in the poll as the Bison claimed two place votes for a total of 87 points. Eastern Nazarene was third with 86 points and garnered the remaining first place vote. Wentworth, last season's runner up, rounded out the top four with 50 points.

Roger Williams ranked No. 5 on the poll with 49 points, the University of New England checked in at No. 6 with 48 points, and No. 7 Gordon received 44 points. Salve Regina was positioned eighth overall (42 points), while Western New England (37 points) and Curry (12 points) rounded out the conference voting.

Endicott tips off the season in the Keene St. Invitational in Keene, N.H. on Saturday, November 14 with a 7:00 p.m. game against Elms College to open the 2015-16 season as the Gulls begin the quest to defend their 2014-15 CCC title. 

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2015 CCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

* - Points are awarded based on position selected in the poll. A first place vote is awarded 10 points, a second place vote is nine points, etc...