Men’s Basketball Picked to Finish Fifth in MASCAC Pre-season Poll

Buzzards Bay, Mass. – The Framingham State University men's basketball team has been selected to finish fifth and the Vikings of Salem State University are the unanimous pre-season pick to win the 2011-12 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Championship in a vote of the league's coaches.

Salem State, the defending conference regular season champion, received all seven first place votes to amass 49 points as they outdistanced themselves from runner-up Westfield State's total of 38 points.  Defending MASCAC Tournament Champion Bridgewater State was next in third with 35 points, while MCLA followed in fourth with 23 points.  The Rams and Worcester State were next in fifth and sixth with 22 and 21 points respectively, while Fitchburg State rounds out the poll with eight points.

The 2011-12 Rams under the direction of second year head coach Paul Wholey will be led by senior Marcus McLaurin who was a second team All-Conference selection a season ago.  McLaurin averaged 17.9 points and 4.9 rebound a game last season.  Also returning for the Rams is sophomore Yemi Ajao (Randolph, Mass.) who had strong rookie season a year ago.

The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the nation's first Division III men's and women's playing conference, has a rich and storied tradition of competitive success while celebrating excellence in the classroom.  MASCAC member schools include Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, MCLA, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Salem State University, Westfield State University, and Worcester State University.  Two other institutions, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Plymouth State University, are affiliate members of the conference in the sport of men's ice hockey.

Portions of release courtesy of MASCAC Media Relations.