Unbeaten Hilltoppers End Regular Season at #1 in Nation

The West Liberty University men’s basketball team completed its second month as the nation’s top-ranked NCAA Division II squad on Tuesday.

Coach Jim Crutchfield’s unbeaten Hilltoppers (26-0) were a unanimous pick as No. 1 for the eighth consecutive week in the weekly Top 25 poll conducted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ (NABC) ranking committee.

West Liberty’s 8-week run as No. 1 is the longest such streak ever compiled by a West Virginia Conference team. Former WVIAC member Salem-Teikyo (now Salem International) ranked atop the NCAA Division II poll for seven consecutive weeks during the 1999-00 season.

The Hilltoppers have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 22 consecutive weeks, dating back to the 2009-10 season. That’s the longest streak by a WVIAC men’s team since Salem’s NCAA Division II record 76-week Top 25 run from Jan. 21, 1997 to March 11, 2003.

Now the nation’s only unbeaten men’s basketball team at any level, the Hilltoppers (26-0) closed out the regular season in typically impressive fashion on Saturday by breezing to a 101-79 victory at Davis & Elkins.

It was the 24th time the nation’s highest-scoring team had cracked the century mark this year as West Liberty became only the third team in West Virginia Conference history – and the first in 35 years – to sail into the WVIAC Tournament with an unblemished record.

There was very little movement at the top of the national rankings this week. The top eight teams are unchanged from a week ago while No. 9 Findlay (Ohio) and No. 10 Central Washington each moved up a spot to replace last week’s No. 9 squad, Arkansas Tech, which slipped to No. 13 after a loss to Ouachita Baptist.

Bellarmine (Ky.) remains No. 2, followed by Humboldt State (Calif.), Alabama-Huntsville, Augusta State (Ga.), Minnesota State, Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern with Findlay and Central Washington rounding out the top 10.

The No. 1-ranked team in the Atlantic Region, West Liberty is the only WVIAC squad in this week’s poll. No. 16 Bowie State (Md.), the regular-season champion in the CIAA, is the only other Atlantic Region team in the Top 25. Indiana (Pa.) – last year’s Atlantic Region champion and national runner-up – is among the teams also receiving votes.

The Hilltoppers open WVIAC Tournament play Thursday night in Charleston when they meet the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between Wheeling Jesuit and Shepherd in a tournament quarterfinal. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Civic Center Coliseum.

NABC Division II Men’s Basketball

Regular Season Poll No. 16

Team W-L Pts Pvs

• 1. WEST LIBERTY (8) 26-0 200 1
• 2. Bellarmine, Ky. 25-2 191 2
• 3. Humboldt State, Calif. 24-2 180 3
• 4. Alabama-Huntsville 25-3 177 4
• 5. Augusta State, Ga. 25-3 169 5
• 6. Minnesota State 23-3 157 6
• 7. Central Oklahoma 25-3 149 7
• 8. Missouri Southern 23-3 141 8
• 9. Findlay, Ohio 23-3 137 10
• 10. Central Washington 23-3 133 11
• 11. Southern Indiana 23-4 121 12
• 12. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 24-2 106 13
• 13. Arkansas Tech 22-4 104 9
• 14. Mary, N.D. 22-4 88 19
• 15. Tarleton State, Texas 22-4 76 20
• 16. Bowie State, Md. 22-4 72 22
• 17. Harding, Ark. 22-4 68 14
• 18. Colo. School of Mines 22-4 61 23
• 19. Fort Hays State, Kan. 22-6 51 17
• 20. Cal State-Dom. Hills 20-6 46 15
• 21. Rollins, Fla. 22-6 29 18
• 22. Bentley, Mass. 20-6 25 24
• 23. Ferris State, Mich. 20-6 23 21
• 24. (tie) Benedict, S.C. 20-6 21 NR
• 24. (tie) West Texas A&M 22-5 21 NR

Others receiving votes: Hillsdale (Mich.) 20, Indiana (Pa.) 8, American International (Mass.) 6, Northern Kentucky 6, Drury (Mo.) 5, Metropolitan State (Colo.) 3, Georgia Southwestern 1, Stonehill (Mass.) 1.