Men's Basketball voted to finish at the bottom in HCAC preseason poll

CARMEL, Ind. - The Defiance College men's basketball team was picked to finish last in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) preseason poll.

Anderson was voted to finish first and accumulated 80 points while receiving five first place votes. Manchester came in second with 67 points and received two first place votes. The top half of the poll also includes Hanover (66 points), Transylvania (65 points) and Rose-Hulman (50 points). Hanover received one first place vote and the final two first place votes went to Transylvania.

The bottom half of the poll features Franklin (38 points), Mt. St. Joseph (36 points), Earlham (23 points), Bluffton (18 points) and Defiance (12 points).

Athletes named to the watch list include juniors Landen Swanner, Clay McCorkle, Sherod Brooks, and sophomore Cole Wojciechowski. 

The Yellow Jackets will open their season on Wednesday, November 8 with an exhibition game at Division I Cleveland State. The main highlight of the November slate is the Purple and Gold Tournament on November 10 and 11. The Yellow Jackets play Beloit on the 10th and Miami-Hamilton on the 11th. More information on the tournament can be found here. November also includes home dates against Kalamazoo on the 18th and Oberlin on the 25th. The Yellow Jackets will take a road trip to Olivet on the 15th and open up Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play on the 29th at Mt. St. Joseph. 

Defiance will play five of their six December games on the road. The first three Saturday's are road trips to Transylvania, Hanover, and Alma. The Yellow Jackets will also play two more road exhibition games at Division I opponents. Defiance plays at Ohio on the 18th and at IUPUI on the 21st. The final game of December is a home conference game against Earlham on the 30th.

January begins with four straight home games against Manchester, Rose-Hulman, Bluffton, and Franklin. The second round of conference play begins on the 20th at home against Transylvania. The Yellow Jackets end January with road games at Franklin and Earlham.

February includes five games to conclude the regular season with three being played on the road. The home games are Mt. St. Joseph on the 7th and Hanover on the 10th. 

The HCAC Tournament will be played February 18-24. For all things DC athletics and updates, visit defianceathletics.com.