Posted: Oct 23, 2019

EC Men’s Basketball Tabbed Third in SLIAC Preseason Poll

BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Less than nine months after the Eureka men's basketball team reached the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history, the Red Devils have been selected to finish third in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The poll, which was conducted by league men's basketball coaches, was released to the public on Wednesday afternoon, and had EC tallying the third-most overall votes.

Defending champion Webster finished at the top with 78 overall votes and six out of 10 first-place votes. Greenville is second with 67 overall and over first-place votes.

Eureka defeated both teams en route to its first-ever SLIAC Tournament title last season.

Spalding earned one first-place vote and was voted fourth overall with 51.

The rest of the pecking order was made up of Blackburn, Fontbonne, Westminster, MacMurray, Iowa Wesleyan and Principia, all of which finished with fewer than 50 overall votes.

Eureka returns three starters and 11 letterwinners from the team that put together the historic run last season, including leading scorer and SLIAC Watch List recipient Dakota Bennington (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian), leading rebounder Jordan Dehm (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) and fellow returning starter Austin Juergens (Pekin, Ill./Pekin).

2019-20 Preseason SLIAC Men's Basketball Coaches Poll (First-place votes)

1. Webster - 78 (6)

2. Greenville - 67 (3)

3. Eureka - 58

4. Spalding - 51 (1)

5. Blackburn - 45

6. Fontbonne - 42

7. Westminster - 35

8. MacMurray - 29

9. Iowa Wesleyan - 23

10. Principia - 22

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