DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern men's basketball will open the 2023-24 season as the Great American Conference favorites to earn a conference championship after topping the preseason poll released on Thursday.
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The Savage Storm collected 116 total points in the poll, earning nine of the possible 12 first-place votes.
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Arkansas Tech was picked second in the poll with 103 points and a first-place nod, just ahead of Southern Arkansas who was third with 101 points and a first-place vote.
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Henderson State was fourth in the ranking with the remaining first-place selection and 81 total points, with East Central next in fifth with 72 points and Ouachita Baptist rounding out the top half of the league with 70 points.
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Oklahoma Baptist was picked seventh with 61 points, followed by Southern Nazarene in eighth and Northwestern Oklahoma State in ninth.
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Arkansas-Monticello was 10
th with 42 points, with Southwestern Oklahoma State, and Harding rounding out the poll.
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SE closed out the 2022-23 season tied for place with an 18-10 record and a 15-7 mark in league play, matching Southern Arkansas who posted a 15-7 conference mark and a 22-10 overall record.
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The Storm returns seven of its top eight scorers from a season ago and four players who started 19 or more games.
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Jet Sternberger returns after earning first-team All-GAC honors last season when he averaged 17.3 ppg while shooting 46.7 percent form the field and adding 4.5 rebounds per outing.
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Brennen Burns was a second team All-GAC selection last season after putting up 15.5 ppg while shooting 52.8 percent from the floor and leading the conference with 4.8 assists per game.
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SE also returns
Kody Clouet and
Kyle Leslie who each averaged more than 11 points per game last season, while Leslie returns as the team's top rebounder.
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