KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Despite suffering its first loss of the season, the West Liberty University men’s basketball team didn’t fall very far when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its weekly NCAA Division II Top 25 poll on Tuesday afternoon.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers (16-1), who came out on the short end of a 101-96 heartbreaker at the University of Charleston on Jan. 13, slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 in the voting conducted by the NABC’s 16-member NCAA Division II rankings panel. This week’s poll reflects results for games played through Sunday, Jan. 20.
Metropolitan State (15-0) is the new No. 1, picking up 13 of the 16 first-place votes to hold off defending national champion Western Washington (16-0) for the top spot. Western Washington boasts the nation’s longest winning streak at 22 games.
Kentucky Wesleyan (14-0) squeezed past the Hilltoppers into the No. 3 spot but that’s likely to change next week as KWC was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten on Monday night by No. 10 Southern Indiana (12-2).
Seattle Pacific (13-2) is fifth followed by Cal Poly-Pomona (13-1), Minnesota State (15-1), Bellarmine, Ky. (12-2), Indiana, Pa. (13-2) and Southern Indiana.
West Liberty bounced back from its loss to Charleston with two more conference wins, knocking off Fairmont State, 82-77, and running away from Concord, 101-81, and has now won 70 of its last 72 league games.
The nation’s highest-scoring team, the Hilltoppers have now appeared in 47 consecutive NABC Top 25 polls dating back to December 2009. That’s the longest run in the national rankings by a WVIAC team since former league member Salem was ranked for an NCAA Division II record 76 consecutive weeks from 1997 to 2003.
Thanks to its upset win against West Liberty last week, Charleston made its Top 25 debut this season at No. 23. Fairmont State, despite its loss to the Hilltoppers, didn’t make the Top 25 but picked up a few more votes to climb higher on the list of teams also receiving votes.
West Liberty returns to action on Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Wheeling Jesuit, tipping off a busy stretch of 7 games in 15 days for the Hilltoppers.
NABC DIVISION II TOP 25
Men’s Basketball
(Through games of Sunday, Jan. 20)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. Metro State, Colo. (13) 15-0 397 2
2. Western Washington (3) 16-0 386 3
3. Kentucky Wesleyan 14-0 373 4
4. WEST LIBERTY 16-1 341 1
5. Seattle Pacific, Wash. 13-2 330 6
6. Cal Poly-Pomona 13-1 325 7
7. Minnesota State 15-1 313 8
8. Bellarmine, Ky. 12-2 271 12
9. Indiana, Pa. 13-2 223 16
10. Southern Indiana 12-2 221 15
11. Indianapolis, Ind. 12-2 219 5
12. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 12-2 174 18
13. Alabama-Huntsville 13-3 170 9
14. Florida Southern 12-2 167 20
15. Barton, N.C. 11-2 163 19
16. Assumption, Mass. 13-2 146 23
17. Rollins, Fla. 13-2 136 24
18. Adams State, Colo. 12-2 130 13
19. Winston-Salem State, N.C. 13-3 124 11
20. Fort Lewis, Colo. 12-2 97 17
21. Newman, Kan. 14-2 84 14
22. Wayne State, Mich. 12-2 71 NR
23. CHARLESTON 12-2 70 NR
24. Washburn, Kan. 10-4 44 10
25. Winona State, Minn. 16-3 41 NR
