Men's Basketball

CBU Preseason Favorite in PacWest Men’s Basketball

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2016-17 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and All-PacWest Team

IRVINE, Calif. – For the third-consecutive season, California Baptist was named the preseason favorite in the PacWest men’s basketball coaches’ poll, released Wednesday. The Lancers also garnered the Preseason Player of the Year honor again, with guard Michael Smith picked to repeat as the conference’s top player.
 
CBU received six first-place votes to claim the top spot with 179 points. CBU finished in a four-way tie for first place in the regular season last season and received the third seed in the PacWest Championship tournament. The Lancers won their first title with three wins, with Smith winning MVP honors and setting the tournament record for points (92). CBU made its third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship, reaching the regional semifinals.
 
Azusa Pacific, Dixie State and Concordia followed in the poll in second, third and fourth, respectively. The four teams all tied at 15-5 in the regular season last year. APU, the defending regular season champion, received five first-place votes and 171 points. APU was an at-large NCAA Championship selection last season, its second-consecutive, and also reached the regional semifinals. Dixie State, who has finished atop the conference standings in five of the last seven seasons, came in third with 161 points. Concordia came in fourth place with 156 points and one first-place vote heading into its second year of conference play.
 
CUI is in its third year of the NCAA process and ineligible for the conference tournament, leaving three spaces open based on the poll. Point Loma came in fifth place with one first-place vote and 140 points. Chaminade and Hawai’i Pacific occupied the final two tournament-qualifying spots in the poll.
 
Smith was the 2015-16 PacWest Player of the Year, leading the conference and ranking 37th in the nation in scoring (21.4 ppg). He was an All-American and first-team all-region pick by both the D2CCA and NABC.
 
Smith was joined on the Preseason All-PacWest Team by five players, four of whom were second-team All-PacWest last year and one third-team member. Chaminade’s Kuany Kuany is a three-time All-PacWest honoree and made the preseason team for the second time.