Posted: Oct 25, 2019

Seahawks tabbed seventh in pre-season coaches' poll

Andrew Bronstein and the Seahawks open the season at former CCC charter member Coast Guard on November 13.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Nichols men's basketball team will try to make it four straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament titles this year as it was picked in the top spot in the 2019-20 CCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Bison garnered 77 points in the voting, including six of the nine first place votes.

Salve Regina University head coach Sean Foster returns three Seahawks who averaged double-figure scoring last season -- second-year Seahawk Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass.) led the team with 17.8 points per game (ninth in the league), and was followed by juniors Cameron Collins (Oakdale, Conn.) with 13.5 points per game and Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, N.Y.) with 12.2 points per game (12th and 18th in CCC, respectively).

Collins had the league's fourth-best field goal percentage (57.8 percent) and topped the Seahawks in rebounding (127). Spencer, the league's Rookie of the Year, led the Seahawks with 72 three-pointers.

Andrew Bronstein (Needham, Mass.), the lone returning senior and captain, enters his final season with 260 assists, seventh all-time on the school's all-time record book.

The three-time reigning conference tournament champions made history last year becoming the first CCC men's basketball team to ever advance to the Sectional Finals (Elite 8) of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.

Nichols only lost one conference game last year, going 15-1 in league play (28-3 overall) and earning the top seed in the CCC Championship Tournament. After picking up a bye in the quarterfinals, the Bison knocked off No. 5 seed Western New England in the semifinals to earn a chance to defend their title. They defeated No. 2 seed Gordon, 105-90, to earn the league's automatic qualifier.

In the national tournament, Nichols drew Middlebury in the opening round taking a 74-71 victory. They then outpaced Rowan to earn a trip to Amherst for the sectional semifinals. Nichols drew the host Mammoths in the sectional semifinals and picked up a thrilling 62-58 victory to become the first CCC men's basketball team to advance to Elite 8. However, the quest for a trip to the national championship ended there with a 69-65 loss to Swarthmore.

Endicott landed second in this year's poll with 74 points and two first place votes. The Gulls will be looking to return to the championship game after missing it for the first time in four years a season ago.

Last year's tournament runner-up, Gordon, and Roger Williams tied for the No. 3 spot on this year's ledger. The Fighting Scots, which made their first appearance in the conference championship game since 2014 last season, also received the final first place vote. Western New England rounded out the top five with 51 points.

The bottom half of the poll comprised of Wentworth (37 points) in the sixth spot followed by Salve Regina and the University of New England, which tied for seventh with 24 points. Curry landed in the final spot in the poll with 10 points.

The CCC men's basketball season gets underway on Friday, Nov. 8 with three teams in non-conference action. The first CCC contest is on Saturday, Nov. 23 with UNE and Wentworth facing off. At the end of the regular season, the top seven teams will qualify for the 2020 CCC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament. The tournament will begin with the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, Feb. 25 with three quarterfinal games. The top seed will earn a bye directly into the CCC Semifinals where it will await the winners of the quarterfinal matchups. The semifinals will be on Thursday, Feb. 27. The winners of two semifinal games will meet in the CCC Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 29. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the league's automatic qualifier into the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament.

Click HERE to view the whole 2019-20 CCC men's basketball schedule.