United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Men's Basketball - Bears Get First Ever National Ranking; Finish 15th

NEW LONDON, CONN.--(3/25/08)--The Coast Guard Academy men’s basketball team which made an improbable run to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III tournament earned the program’s first ever national ranking as the Bears are ranked 15th in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Coast Guard, which set a school-record with 24 wins, finished 24-7. The Bears entered the tournament unranked, but after wins at No. 24 Trinity, No. 10 UMass Dartmouth and a win over No. 13 Rochester in the Sweet 16, the team earned its spot in the Top 25.

The senior class finished with a four-year record of 68-41. The 68 wins is the second most in a four-year span at the Academy. The senior trio of Grant Johnson, Al Sowers and Jeff Prebeck started all 109 games in their outstanding careers and along with junior Craig Johnson all scored 1,000 points in their careers.

Prebeck leaves as the all-time leading scorer (1,614 points) and second all-time with 1,114 rebounds). He is the only player in Coast Guard history to score over 1,500 points and grab 1,000 rebounds. Sowers leaves as the Bears all-time leader in assists (400) and 3-point baskets (266) and he is second all-time with 1,518 points. Grant Johnson, who is 10th all-time with 1,137 points, is second in school history with 244 three-pointers to go with his 307 assists which rank him third all-time. Sowers, Johnson and current assistant coach Sam Cheung (‘02) are the only three players in school history to score 1,000 points and record 300 assists.

Craig Johnson, who is ninth all-time on the Bears scoring list with 1,197 points, led the team in scoring (14.4), rebounding (8.6) and field goal percentage (.549).