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High Scoring Neumann Off To 4-0 Start

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Division III Neumann University men's basketball team is proving quite hard to keep up with here early in the season.

The Knights, who play their home games in Aston, are 4-0 as they head up to Lackawanna County to take on Clarks Summit University Wednesday night.

"When you look at our group, we have a senior-laden group that has the opportunity to be, I think, pretty special," Neumann head coach Jim Rullo tells KYW Newsradio. "But I think we understand that the first four games, although very positive, we still understand we have a long road ahead of us and we're just hopeful that we can maintain that success."

Listen to the entire interview with Neumann's Jim Rullo:

 

Neumann was picked to win the Colonial States Athletic Conference in the preseason coaches' poll, so this success is no surprise. But that doesn't mean it isn't impressive. The Knights are averaging 102.8 points per game - shooting 54% from the field as a team.

"The offense is dictated and predicated upon what we're doing on the defensive end of the floor," Rullo says. "We're holding teams to 38% (shooting) and we're getting stops and then we're pretty athletic where we can run the floor after we get those stops, so it kind of feeds into our offense."

Senior guard DeShawn Lowman is leading the way for the Knights, scoring 21.5 ppg. he is one of seven players averaging double figures for Neumann. Rullo is confident they can sustain that type of balance.

"To be honest with you, we've kind of taken the approach on the recruiting end of trying to find kids that are selfless and these guys just want to win," he says. "It could be, for instance, (senior forward) Carl Wallace, who scores six points one night and is asked to defend the opposition's best player and then the next night he may come out and get 20 points. It's dictated upon our opponent. The great part about what these guys have done from the beginning is they've had a willingness to come into the gym, taking care of business on the practice floor and they're just a good group to be around."

Neumann's game against Clarks Summit University will get underway at 7:00pm.

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