SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Susquehanna University men’s basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Commonwealth Conference during the 2002-03 season, as voted on by the conference’s eight head coaches.

The Crusaders, under 14th-year head coach Frank Marcinek, return all five starters to a squad that finished fourth in the league in 2001-02 with a 7-7 Commonwealth record and 14-12 overall.

Defending conference champion Elizabethtown, which finished 29-3 and lost to Otterbein in the NCAA Division III championship game, received six first-place votes to earn the top spot in the poll ahead of Widener. Lebanon Valley was picked third, followed by Susquehanna, Moravian, Messiah, Juniata and Albright.

The Crusaders open the 2002-03 season at Houts Gymnasium on Friday, November 22 at 7 p.m. against Gallaudet in the Pepsi/Weis Markets Tip Off Classic.