SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Endicott College has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2011-12 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Basketball Championship, as was announced today by Commissioner Gregg M. Kaye. Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head men's basketball coaches.

Endicott (17-10, 8-5 CCC) received eight of a possible 10 first place votes in the 2011-12 CCC preseason poll. Defending conference champion Salve Regina University (17-11, 9-5) was selected to finish second. Wentworth Institute of Technology (18-11, 10-3) was picked to finish third, while acquiring two first place votes, while Roger Williams University and Gordon College were slated to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. Rounding out the remaining five slots included Curry College (sixth), Eastern Nazarene College and Nichols College (tied-seventh), University of New England (ninth), and Western New England (10th).

Wentworth returns a solid core of players from last year's CCC runner-up squad, including senior Adam Dombrowski (Dunstable, Mass.), sophomore Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine), and junior Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine). Therriault was second on the team in scoring (167 points, 12.8 points per game), free throw percentage (.761, 54-for-71), and rebounds (4.6 per game) in conference play. Dombrowski was third on the team in scoring and averaged 11.7 points per game (140), and was 10th among conference members in three-point field goal percentage, going 12-for-25 (.391) in league contests. Mayo, made a solid impact in his rookie campaign as he led the team in steals (43), was fourth on his team in points per game (6.9), and was second in defensive rebounds (84) within conference play.

The Leopards open the 2011-2012 campaign on Tuesday, November 15, with a home game against Colleges of the Fenway rival Wheelock College. Wentworth will play 18 CCC games and seven non-conference games. In addition to Wheelock, the Black & Gold will be competing in the Hilton Garden Inn Tip-Off Tournament in Lewiston, Maine, during the opening week of the season. The non-league schedule is highlighted by a game at Division I Texas-Pan American on December 15.

2011-2012 CCC PRESEASON MEN'S BASKETBALL POLL
Teams received 10 points for every first place vote received, nine points for second place votes, eight points for third place votes, down to one point for a last place vote. First place votes are shown in parentheses.

TEAM POINTS (1st Place votes)
Endicott 98 (8)
Salve Regina 75
Wentworth 74 (2)
Roger Williams 73
Gordon 58
Curry 55
Eastern Nazarene 40
Nichols 40
University of New England 21
Western New England 16

CCC Release

(Portions of this Release Courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference)