Men's Basketball Tabbed 13th in Northeast-10 Preseason Poll

Ravens return three starters from a season ago

RINDGE, N.H. (October 27, 2009) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team was picked to finish 13th (55 points) out of 16 teams in the 2009-10 Northeast-10 Preseason Poll, which was released on Tuesday by the conference. The voting was done by the league’s 16 head coaches.

The Ravens return three starters and six letterwinners from the 2008-09 season, which saw the team qualify for the Northeast-10 Tournament. Franklin Pierce returns three of its top-four scorers from a season ago, including junior guard Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass.) with a team-best 12.6 points per game, classmate Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine) at 11.7 points a contest and senior Terrell Ray (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with a 7.9 points-per-game average.

Merrimack was picked to finish first in the poll as it garnered 214 points and seven first-place votes. Bentley was tabbed second with 212 points, including seven first-place tallies. UMass-Lowell (191 points, 1 first-place vote), Le Moyne (189 points) and Stonehill (164 points, 1 first-place vote) rounded out the top-five in the poll.

Franklin Pierce will begin its 2009-10 season in mid-November with a pair of home games. The Ravens open the new campaign on Sunday, Nov. 15 when they play host to Lesley at 5 p.m., and then play host to Post on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. All home games are played in the Fieldhouse on the Rindge campus. For more on Franklin Pierce men’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)


Northeast-10 Conference Preseason Coaches Poll
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Merrimack (7) – 214 points
2. Bentley (7) – 212 points
3. UMass-Lowell (1) – 191 points
4. Le Moyne – 189 points
5. Stonehill (1) – 164 points
6. Saint Anselm – 140 points
T7. Assumption – 132 points
T7. Southern New Hampshire – 132 points
9. Adelphi – 120 points
10. American International – 102 points
11. Saint Rose – 88 points
12. Pace – 68 points
13. Franklin Pierce – 55 points
14. Saint Michael’s – 50 points
15. New Haven – 48 points
16. Southern Connecticut State – 15 points