Bryant picked sixth; Grant named preseason All-NEC
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Bryant University men's basketball team was selected to finish sixth out of 11 teams in the Northeast Conference preseason coaches' poll, announced Wednesday at the annual NEC Social Media Day at Barclays Center.
Long Island was selected by the NEC's 11 head coaches as the preseason favorite while garnering five of 11 first place votes. Sacred Heart was picked second with three first-place votes, defending regular-season champion Saint Francis U was chosen to finish third with one first-place vote and reigning NEC Tournament champion Fairleigh Dickinson ranks fourth in the preseason poll with two first-place votes. Robert Morris rounds out the top five ahead of the Black & Gold.
Mount St. Mary's was picked seventh by the NEC coaches, St. Francis Brooklyn eighth, Wagner ninth, Central Connecticut 10th and NEC newcomer Merrimack 11th. Coaches did not vote for their own teams.
Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) was one of five players named to the NEC preseason all-conference team, giving Bryant its first selection since Dan Garvin in 2015-16.
Grant averaged 15.6 points per game for the second consecutive season in 2018-19 while rising to third in Bryant's Division I history with 1,317 points, a career total that ranks third among active NEC players. The guard from Virginia had nine games of 20 or more points and two of 30-plus points as a junior while shooting 38.6 percent from beyond the arc. Grant was a third-team All-NEC selection last March.
Grant was joined on the preseason all-conference team by E.J. Anosike of Sacred Heart, Keith Braxton of Saint Francis U, Raiquan Clark of Long Island and Jahlil Jenkins of Fairleigh Dickinson.
2019-20 NEC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Long Island (5)
2. Sacred Heart (3)
3. Saint Francis U (1)
4. Fairleigh Dickinson (2)
5. Robert Morris
6. Bryant
7. Mount St. Mary's
8. St. Francis Brooklyn
9. Wagner
10. Central Connecticut
11. Merrimack
The 2019-20 Bryant Men's Basketball season opens Tuesday, Nov. 5, when the Bulldogs open the season at home against in-state foe Brown. Tickets for the season opener are available HERE.
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