The Albertus Magnus men's basketball team has been picked to finish the 2011-12 season in first place according to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Preseason Poll. Saint Joseph's College of Maine took second place, while Johnson & Wales was tagged in the third spot.
With 86 points, the Falcons sit atop the list as the Monks from Saint Joseph's earned 83 points, trailing in a close second place.
The Falcons will look to win their second GNAC Championship Title in three years, while they will be led by fifth-year head coach Mitch Oliver and their outstanding senior forward Ray Askew.
The Falcons are coming off of an 18-11 record from the 2010-11 season, while they finished 15-4 in GNAC play. Askew, who was an All-Conference First Team selection, led the Falcons last year with 603 total points, an average of 21.5 per game. He also shot 50% from the floor and pulled down 312 rebounds. He was named to the All-Region Second Team by D3Hoops.com as he was ranked 20th in the nation in points per contest and 18th in the country with 11.1 rebounds per game.
Sophomore Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.), who was named the GNAC Rookie of the Year last season, is coming off of a freshman campaign in which he averaged 12.7 points per game and shot 45.5-percent from the field.
Albertus will look to fill the void left by the departure of Walden St. Juste, a player who averaged 16.9 points, 2.2 steals and 2.1 assists per game last season. Arshad Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) will likely step up into a bigger role for the Falcons after he averaged 9.8 points and 17.9 minutes per contest in 2010-11.
GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Top-8
1. Albertus Magnus (86)
2. St. Joseph's (83)
3. Johnson & Wales (79)
4. Norwich (62)
5. Suffolk (45)
6. Anna Maria (38)
Rivier (38)
8. Emerson (32)
