KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It’s déjà vu all over again for the West Liberty University men’s basketball team as Coach Jim Crutchfield’s high-scoring Hilltoppers have returned to the No. 1 spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Top 25 coaches’ poll.
West Liberty (25-1) replaced defending national champion Bellarmine, Ky. (23-2) at the top of the NCAA Division II heap on Tuesday when the NABC released the results of its weekly Top 25 balloting. The Kentucky school suffered its second loss of the season last week, dropping a 75-72 verdict to No. 9-ranked Southern Indiana.
It’s the first time this season the Hilltoppers have ascended to the top rung of the NCAA Division II ladder but it’s familiar territory for the Black and Gold, who spent the final 9 weeks of the 2010-11 season firmly entrenched at No. 1.
Crutchfield, who led last year’s WLU squad to an Atlantic Region championship and a spot in the Elite Eight semifinals, was pleased with the recognition for his program and the university but admitted this was something he didn’t see coming when practice got under way in October.
“After losing four senior starters and 1,000-point scorers, I never expected to be No. 1 again this season – not in my wildest dreams,” Crutchfield told reporters after picking up his 200th career win on Saturday.
“After last year’s run, I could see us being ranked high at the start of the season based on reputation but you have to play pretty good basketball all year to be No. 1 at the end of the season. We appreciate the respect but this doesn’t change anything for us. There’s a lot of basketball left to play and we understand that we have to go out and earn that respect all over again every time we take the court.”
Colorado School of Mines (22-2) is No. 3 this week, followed by Alabama-Huntsville (20-3), Midwestern State, Texas (22-2), Shaw, N.C. (22-2), Tarleton State, Texas (22-4), Northern Kentucky (21-4), Southern Indiana (20-5) and Missouri Southern (22-5).
Charleston (21-5) cracked the national rankings for the first time this season, checking in at No. 25.
It’s the 36thconsecutive week WLU has been ranked in the NABC Top 25, the longest run by a current WVIAC program. West Liberty was the only conference team to make this week’s Top 25 while Charleston received 6 votes.
The Hilltoppers close out the road portion of their regular-season slate on Wednesday with a trip to Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the McDonough Center.
NABC DIVISION II TOP 25
Men’s Basketball
Team Rec Pts Pvs
1. WEST LIBERTY (6) 25-1 198 2
2. Bellarmine, Ky. (2) 23-2 190 1
3. Colorado School of Mines 22-2 183 4
4. Alabama-Huntsville 20-3 175 6
5. Midwestern State, Texas 22-2 171 7
6. Shaw, N.C. 22-2 155 9
7. Tarleton State, Texas 22-4 145 5
8. Northern Kentucky 21-4 124 15
9. Southern Indiana 20-5 110 11
10. Missouri Southern 22-5 108 16
11. Christian Brothers, Tenn. 19-4 107 13
12. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 23-3 106 8
13. Indiana, Pa. 20-4 105 17
14. Western Washington 23-4 104 10
15. Metropolitan State, Colo. 21-5 85 18
16. NW Missouri State 20-4 73 14
17. Arkansas Tech 19-4 72 20
18. District of Columbia 21-3 68 22
19. Kentucky Wesleyan 19-6 56 12
20. Alaska-Anchorage 20-5 55 21
21. Anderson, S.C. 20-4 47 24
22. Winona State, Minn. 23-3 39 3
23. Indianapolis, Ind. 18-7 25 25
24. Seattle Pacific, Wash. 20-5 22 NR
25. CHARLESTON 21-5 14 NR
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