Newcomer Rams and Seahawks picked just behind top two favorites

BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball teams will play their first full season since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic this year and it appears as though it will be a tight race at the top. Nichols and Endicott, who have combined to win the past six CCC Tournament titles, each earned 91 points in the Preseason Coaches' Poll to tie for the top spot.

Nichols' 91 points included five of the possible 10 first place votes cast by the league's men's basketball head coaches last week.

The Bison are currently riding a streak of four consecutive CCC Tournament Championships. In 2019-20, the last time the league conducted a tournament, the Bison tied for CCC Regular-Season title, but were seeded second in the tournament due to the league's tiebreaking procedure. They were able to go on the road in the championship game and knock off the Gulls to keep their title streak alive. They made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Gulls, which also earned a share of the CCC Regular-Season Championship during the league's last full year, earned four first place votes in this year's poll. They will be looking to make another trip to the championship final this year having appeared five of the last six.

Ranking third is this year's poll is a newcomer to the league, Suffolk, with 65 points. The Rams had a lot of success in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and will be looking for that carryover into their first full season in the CCC.

Salve Regina and Gordon rounded out the top five in this year's voting. The Seahawks claimed 64 points, while the Fighting Scots earned 55.

Western New England (53 points), Wentworth (52), and Roger Williams (45) fell in the six through eight spots in this year's rankings with the Hawks earning the final first place vote. The University of New England (21) and Curry (13) closed out the poll in order.

Salve Regina head coach Sean Foster has been a part of three Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball championships – first as a player in 1995, then as an assistant coach with Wentworth in 1998, and again as a head coach in 2011. His Seahawks returned to the title game in 2012 as the top seed but visiting Endicott took its fifth crown home, before adding two more – 2015 and 2016.

Foster returns two graduate students – Cameron Collins (Montville, Conn.) and Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, N.Y.) – who join three seniors – Chris Peasley (Plainfield, Conn.), Andrew Richards (Rosedale, N.Y.), Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass.) – and junior Donnie Aikins (London, England) with the most experience on the Seahawks. While Collins became just the second player in program history to reach the 1000-point milestone as a junior in 2020, Spencer's pursuit of the same milestone stalled at 945 through his sophomore season.

"Our players have put in tremendous effort with their preparations for the upcoming season and are looking forward to getting back on the court together. Our staff will lean heavily on our experienced upperclassmen to direct an underclass group with incredible potential. We are excited and grateful to see their leadership direct us on and off the court in 2021-22."

Foster has 10 players making their collegiate debut in 2021-22, that includes six sophomores and four freshmen academically.

The CCC men's basketball teams return to the court for the first time on Friday, Nov. 5 with Western New England and Nichols opening their non-conference schedules. The first CCC matchup of the year takes place on Saturday, Nov. 20 between Endicott and the University of New England with the first full conference date taking place on Wednesday, Dec. 1. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will earn spots in the 2022 CCC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, which begins with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round on Thursday, Feb. 24 with the CCC Championship game being played on Saturday, Feb. 26. The winner of the championship game will be named 2022 CCC Men's Basketball Tournament Champion and earn the league's automatic qualifier into the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.

2021-22 CCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll