Oct. 10, 2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team has been selected to finish third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division, according the league's preseason poll.

UW-Parkside (19-13, 10-9 GLVC) received 32 total points and three first-place votes to head the East Division. Northern Kentucky (24-9, 13-6) garnered 27 total points and one first-place vote to finish second in the voting. Lewis University (15-13, 10-9) collected 24 total points and one first-place vote and Kentucky Wesleyan College (13-14, 6-13) received 21 total points and the final two first-place votes to finish third and fourth in the poll, respectively.

Saint Joseph's College (17 points), the University of Indianapolis (14) and Bellarmine University (12) round out the East Division poll.

In the West Division, Drury (21-9, 13-6) collected 34 total points and four first-place votes to earn the top spot. The Panthers were followed by the University of Southern Indiana (29-6, 14-5), the 2006-07 GLVC Champion. Southern Indiana received 32 total points and the final three first-place votes. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (15-12, 10-9) comes in third in the preseason poll with 24 total points and Quincy (20-10, 12-7) notched 20 total points to finish fourth in the poll.

Rockhurst University (19), the University of Missouri-St. Louis (12) and the University of Missouri-Rolla (6) round out the West Division.

The GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll is voted on by the league's 14 head coaches. Each coach selects their predicted order of finish in their division and is not allowed to vote for their own team.

Among the Flyers' returning players for 2007-08 are guard Brandon Dagans, the GLVC's leading scorer and an All-GLVC and All-Great Lakes Region first-team selection; forward Stephan Bolt, a 2006-07 All-GLVC honorable mention selection; and forward Jason Genova, the GLVC's sixth-leading scorer.

The 2007-08 season begins on Nov. 15. The GLVC-portion of the schedule is set to begin on Nov. 29. The GLVC Championship, featuring the league's top eight teams, will be hosted on March 6-9 at a site to be determined.