New York, NY---The Skyline Conference released the men's basketball pre-season poll on Wednesday afternoon. Farmingdale State has earned the top spot, edging out St. Joseph's-L.I. by five points and receiving four first place votes. The Sage Colleges were picked to finish fifth in the race for the league championship, a program-first for the young Gators that appeared in the 2011 ECAC Upstate Division III Championships as a second-year program.
Farmingdale State was 15-5 in conference play last year and has a veteran squad that returns. They are led by a dynamic senior backcourt duo of Joshua Smith, who netted 15.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 2.9 apg, and Dyshaun Flournoy, who scored 14.5 ppg. Both were Second Team All-Skyline Conference selections last season.
St. Joseph's-L.I, which compiled a 16-4 league mark, finished second in the poll. The Golden Eagles are sparked by their senior first team all-conference backcourt tandem of Oliver Laurent (17.0 pts/4.8 rebs) and Chris Jiminez (15.0 pts/3.8 rebs).
Also receiving a pair of first place votes were the Mount Saint Mary College Knights. They finished last season with a 19-9 record, and return last year's league Rookie of the Year, Joe Stabach (11.9 ppg).
The 2010-11 Skyline Conference Champions and league representative in the NCAA Tournament, Purchase College, received one first place vote.
Sage produced a 13-13 overall record, while standing at 10-10 in the conference last year, and just missed a spot in the conference post-season tournament. The Gators return their top two scorers from last season in senior forward Dalton Austin-Michaud (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) and junior Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton). Austin-Michaud earned team MVP honors after scoring 232 points in 13 games played, good enough for a team-leading 17.8 ppg, while Farbotko was the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year in 2009-2010 and boasts 592 career points and 253 career rebounds for Sage.
Additional strength for the Gators will come from the 2010-2011 Skyline Conference top field goal shooter, junior center Ryan Sager (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) as he shot 57.7% from the floor (90-156) and tallied 8.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg in his first campaign at Sage. Look for junior floor general Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) to be a leader as the talented point guard has handed out 255 assists, while playing in 51 games with 46 starts thus far.
Sage opens the 2011-2012 season on the road at MCLA on November 15 in a 7 p.m. road tilt. The Gators will host RPI on November 22 in the Kahl Center in the home opener. First tip is set for 7 p.m. as the Gators host the Engineers.
2011-12 Skyline Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Farmingdale State (4) - 74 pts
2. St. Joseph's – LI (3) - 69
3. Mount Saint Mary College (2) - 67
4. Purchase College (1) - 61
5. The Sage Colleges - 46
6. SUNY-Old Westbury - 44
7. College of Mount Saint Vincent - 32
8. Yeshiva University - 25
9. NYU-Poly - 15
10. SUNY-Maritime - 13
(First place votes in parentheses)
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