Trojans ranked Number 1 in region

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on January 31, 2008 3:20 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Conference Carolinas leader Mount Olive College earned the No. 1 ranking in the first NCAA Division II East Region men's basketball poll of the season.

Coach Bill Clingan's squad is the third Trojan team to receive a No. 1 regional ranking. Mount Olive was the No. 1 seed and played host to last year's NCAA Division II South Atlantic baseball regional. The Trojan men's soccer team held the No. 1 spot in the NSCAA Southeast Region poll during the 2005 season.

The Trojans (14-4 overall) entered the week with a nine-game win streak, including triumphs over teams ranked in this week's East Region top 10 -- Queens and Barton. Pfeiffer, the No. 8 team, turned back Mount Olive 111-110 on Monday in Meisenheimer, but that defeat is not reflected in this week's poll.

Conference Carolinas and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) are tied for the most teams in the poll with four apiece. The remaining two teams are from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC).

Mount Olive is just one of two teams in the East Region to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four years. Teams from the Conference Carolinas (formerly Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference) have won the last five East Regional titles and six of the last seven.

The Trojans entertain St. Andrews today and Anderson (S.C.) University on Saturday. The two contests cap a stretch of six games in a 13-day period for Mount Olive, which is 10-2 in Conference Carolinas play.