Central Islip, N.Y. - The C.W. Post men's basketball team has been picked to repeat the title in the 2009-10 season as voted on by the league's head coaches.  Dowling's senior guard David Seagers has been tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year.

The Pioneers earn the top spot on the poll with three first-place votes and a total of 57 total points. Under the direction of Head Coach Tim Cluess, the Pioneers had a remarkable 2008-09 campaign.  They finished with a perfect 18-0 record in conference play to claim the regular season title and went on to defeat the University of Bridgeport in the ECC Finals to capture the post season crown. The Pioneers continued their run by defeating Philadelphia, Assumption and Bentley in the NCAA Regional to win the Regional Championship and advance to the Elite Eight.

Bridgeport earned the No. 2 spot on the poll with 56 points and three first-place votes.  The Purple Knights finished with a 22-9 overall record last season and secured a bid to the NCAA Regional.  Dowling grabbed the final two first-place votes and accumulated 53 points to rank third in the poll.

Seagers guided the Golden Lions to a fourth place finish in the conference last season.  He led his team in scoring (17.1 ppg), rebounds (6.3 rpg), assists (98) and steals (58) while ranking in the ECC's Top Ten in the same categories.  Seagers was named to the All-Conference First Team while garnering All-Met honors and was named a Division II Bulletin Pre-Season All-American.  Last year he became the 22^nd player in Dowling history to score 1,000 points and is currently two steals away from becoming the program's All-Time steals leader.

2009-10 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

() - First Place votes

Preseason Player of the Year:      David Seagers, Sr., G, Dowling