Southeast Missouri sophomore Denzel Mahoney earned Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference honors, the league announced Tuesday during its media day at the Double Tree Hotel in Evansville.
Mahoney had a mammoth rookie season a year ago, collecting Second-Team All-OVC honors, selection to the All-Newcomer Team, and the 2016-17 OVC Freshman of the Year award. Mahoney was also named OVC Freshman of the Week a league-high five times.
Southeast, which was the 22nd most improved team in NCAA Division I Basketball last season, was picked 10th in this year's OVC Preseason Poll. Belmont picked up 18 first-place votes as this year's preseason favorite.
The men will play a pair of exhibition games at home next week – November 1 vs. Missouri S&T and November 4 vs. Missouri Southern – before tipping off the regular season at home against Missouri Baptist on Nov. 10.
Meanwhile, the Redhawk women’s basketball team was predicted to finish tied for eighth in the annual OVC Preseason Poll. SEMO shares the predicted finish spot with Murray State, who had the exact same conference record as the Redhawks last season at 7-9. This placement matches exactly where Southeast was seeded in the OVC tournament one year ago.
Belmont was also picked to finish first on the women’s side, with 22 first-place votes.
The Redhawk women will host a home exhibition game this Sunday at 2 p.m., featuring free trick-or-treating on the arena concourse following the game. Several Redhawk athletic teams, including men’s basketball, and other student organization will pass out candy to young Redhawk fans after the game, and admission to the game on Sunday is free.
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