OGDEN, Utah (October 1, 2015) – The 2015-16 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball preseason poll was a split decision with the Big Sky coaches choosing Weber State as their No. 1 pick by one point while the Big Sky media gave defending regular-season champion, Montana, the edge in their poll.
 
Weber State was picked first by the league’s coaches with just one point (114) separating the Wildcats from the Montana Grizzlies (113). Both WSU and UM split the first-place votes by the league’s coaches with six each. WSU was picked second in the media poll with 194 points and two first place votes. Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona were picked third and fourth respectively in both polls. NAU tied with Sacramento State for the fourth slot in the media poll.
 
Weber State finished last season with a 13-17 overall record and an 8-10 conference mark. The Wildcats have a strong returning cast for the 2015-16 campaign with Big Sky Second Team All-Conference selection Joel Bolomboy and Honorable Mention Jeremy Senglin returning to the squad. Bolomboy averaged a double-double last season with 13.3 points per game and 10.2 rebounds. Senglin was the Wildcats’ leading scorer last season with 16.4 points per game.
 
Montana earned the media’s top spot with 220 points and 14 first-place votes. The Griz are coming off a 20-win season in which they earned the Big Sky Conference regular-season title and the right to host the Big Sky tournament. Montana returns six lettermen from last year’s team, including several starters. Anchoring the returning cast is senior forward, Martin Breunig, who was named a unanimous First Team selection last year. Breunig averaged 16.7 points per game last season and 7.3 rebounds.
 
Also returning to the Grizzlies is junior guard, Mario Dunn. Dunn picked up an All-Big Sky Honorable mention last season after averaging 48.8 percent from the field (8.8 ppg) and led UM with 59 steals.
 
Eastern Washington is coming off its best season in the school’s NCAA Division I history. The Eagles finished the 2014-15 season with a 26-9 record (14-4 BSC), a Big Sky Tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles finished with program bests for victories overall (26), in the Big Sky (14), on the road (11) and in non-conference play (9) in 32 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I.
 
The Eagles return senior Venky Jois who earned a First Team All-Big Sky and All-Big Sky Tournament team honor last season. Jois posted 16.7 points per game last season to go along with 7.7 boards and 2.2 blocks per contest. He’ll be joined by last season’s Big Sky Freshman of the Year, Bogdan Bliznyuk. The sophomore forward averaged 12 points per game and 5.6 rebound in his rookie season.
 
Northern Arizona set a new school record last season with 23 wins and advanced to the championship game of the College Insider Tournament. NAU finished the season ranked 16th in the nation in free throw percentage, 14th in free throws made, 25th in rebound margin, 16th in total rebounds per game and third in total rebounds. The Lumberjacks return junior guard, Kris Yanku, who was the nation’s best free throw shooter last season. Yanku averaged 13.8 points per game last season and 189 assists on his way to a First Team All-Conference nod.
 
Rounding out the coaches poll; Southern Utah was picked fifth, Portland State was picked sixth, Northern Colorado earned the seventh spot, Idaho and North Dakota were tied at eighth, Sacramento State earned the No. 10 spot and Montana State and Idaho State rounded out the coaches’ poll.
 
Sacramento State was tied with NAU in the media poll while Northern Colorado earned sixth. Idaho and Portland State were tied for seventh, Southern Utah was picked ninth, North Dakota was No. 10 and Montana State and Idaho State rounded out the media poll.
 
The 2016 Big Sky Conference Basketball Championships will take place March 7 through 12 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev. All 12 Big Sky teams will qualify for the tournament this season.