When the Missouri Southern men’s basketball takes the floor this season, it will be looking to extend its streak of consecutive 20-win seasons to five.

They will also be looking to make it back to NCAA Division II postseason play for the first time since 2000. The Lions begin the season ranked fifth in the preseason coach’s poll, although they did receive one first place vote.

“That’s why we play the games,” said Robert Corn, head men’s basketball coach. “There is always a surprise team in the positive and a surprise team in the negative.”

The Lions return three starters from last year. Those returnees are senior guard Ameer Watts, junior guard Hiram Ocasio and senior forward Deon Rose.

Last season, Watts led the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game. He also led the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage at 45 percent, and was second in the league in assists, with 5.7 per game.

“He had a great season for us last year,” Corn said. “He’s a very talented player and we have expected a lot out of him, and he has always delivered.”

Ocasio finished third in the MIAA with 2.1 steals per game and averaged 8.1 points per game.

Senior forward Darrell Redmond, a regular player for the Lions in relief, also returns. He averaged 7.7 points per game last season.

As a team, the Lions averaged 78.1 points per game last season.

The Lions are also joined by newcomers Orestus Cavness, a junior forward, junior guard Jeremy Jones and freshman center Matt Habermehl.

“We have different players with different personalities,” Corn Said. “We’ve got three new guys coming in, and all three of those guys bring a different dimension to this basketball team.”

The Lions know if they are going to continue the success of recent years, hard work will play a big role.

“We are going to have a good season,” said Carlos Collazo, sophomore forward. “We just have to keep practicing hard, do what the coaches tell us, and work hard. This year, we are working twice as hard as last year.”

“We just have to continue to work and to take it game by game,” Corn said. “Hopefully, over the course of the season, positive things will happen for us.”

“We feel like we still have quite a bit of work to do,” said MacKenzie Sherrel, senior guard.

As far as the teams ahead of the Lions in the preseason poll, they are anxious to see the teams play.

“As far as the other teams go, I haven’t seen any of them play,” Sherrel said. “But anybody can win on any night in this league.”

“The other teams are good,” Collazo said. “But we know that we have to keep working hard and prove how good we are on the court.”

Last year the Lions defeated the Emporia State University Hornets in the Sonic/MIAA Championship Tournament before falling to the Washburn University Ichabods in their next game.

They won’t face the teams again until conference play begins, but in that time the team will have 10 games to fine tune their play.

“We’ve got to continue to work and to get better defensively,” Corn said.

“And to try to get better at rebounding as a team.”

“When we play as a team, we will be fine,” Collazo said.

“I think that we will get out and try to run the floor,” Sherrel said. “And to be more aggressive that way.”

The Lions went 8-2 last year in the months of November and December. They will face Colorado State University-Colorado Springs and Bemidji State University at the Pittsburg State Classic Nov. 28-29.