The St. Lawrence University men's basketball team was picked fourth in the Liberty League preseason coaches' poll with 39 points. Hobart garnered the top spot with 60 points (5 first place votes), while Skidmore was in a close second with 59 points (3 first place votes). Clarkson was third with 52 points (1 first place vote).

St. Lawrence, which finished last season with a 9-16 overall record and 7-9 record in the Liberty League, will look to make it back to the conference tournament after missing out last season. Head coach Chris Downs returns six of his top seven scorers, and welcomes six newcomers to the team, including guards Kyle Edwards, Kyle Kobis, Thomas Bedard, Dave Hampton and Sam Adler, and forward Kieran Miller.

"We have a nice blend of talented underclassmen with a group of seniors that have lots of game experience," said Coach Downs. "The key to this season is chemistry, and how quickly we adjust to playing together."

Junior forward Brady Condlin, a Second Team All-Conference selection last year, will join senior guard/forward Payton Stahler as team co-captains. Meanwhile, senior Janpeter Brase and Al Jones are also expected to step up as leaders who have significant playing experience.

Condlin led the Saints' scoring last season and was second in rebounding (16.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg), while shooting 38.2 percent from behind the arc. Stahler was the team's fourth leading scorer, averaging 8.6 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Brase was third on the team in scoring last year as he averaged 10.9 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game. Jones was fourth with 7.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Coach Downs expects good things from a number of the first-years, several of whom will see significant playing time.

"The new guys are predominately guards and will help us improve our ability to shoot the ball and handle the ball," said Coach Downs. "We are looking to decrease the number of turnovers and increase our assists and I think they can all do that. We do need to ratchet up the intensity between players in practice and the guys are learning to compete hard against the opponent regardless of who that opponent is."

St. Lawrence will open the 2013-14 campaign at the Hilbert College Tournament this coming weekend. The Saints will take on Utica at 6pm on Saturday, and will play either Hilbert or Alfred on Sunday.