KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The unbeaten West Liberty University men’s basketball team picked up another first-place vote this week to solidify its hold on the No. 1 spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) weekly NCAA Division II Top 25 poll.
The order was unchanged from a week ago for the top seven teams with Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers (7-0) receiving 13 of the 16 first-place votes for 394 points in the NABC poll, which features two voters in each of the country’s eight regions. This week’s poll includes games played through Sunday.
Bellarmine, Ky. (4-0), was No. 2 with two first-place votes and 378 points. Defending national champion Drury, Mo. (7-0) – which boasts the nation’s longest winning streak at 30 games – didn’t receive a first-place vote but held onto No. 3 with 363 points. Florida Southern (9-0) was No. 4 with 345 points and the other first-place vote while Western Washington (6-0) completed the Top 5 with 340 points.
West Liberty was the only Mountain East Conference team to crack this week’s Top 25 but Shepherd (7-1) was listed among the teams receiving votes.
This is WLU’s 22nd No. 1 national ranking in the last four seasons and the 29th consecutive poll with the Hilltoppers in the Top 5. West Liberty’s streak of 55 consecutive weeks in the Top 25 is the longest active streak in the nation.
The Hilltoppers, who are once again leading the nation in scoring at 114.0 ppg. after winning seven of the last eight national scoring titles, padded that lead with a pair of impressive wins last week. They rolled to a 125-103 victory at Notre Dame (Ohio) on Thursday and followed that up with a 108-83 rout of Urbana on Saturday.
West Liberty is off this week for semester exams but closes out the pre-holiday portion of its schedule on Dec. 17 when the Hilltoppers host Cedarville (Ohio) at 7:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader at the ASRC. The first game of the doubleheader features Wheeling Park High School – coached by West Liberty Hall of Famer Michael Jebbia – takes on Preston High School in a 5:45 p.m. tipoff.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA Division II Top 25
(Through games of Sunday, Dec. 8)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. WEST LIBERTY (13) 7-0 394 1
2. Bellarmine (2) 4-0 378 2
3. Drury, Mo. 7-0 363 3
4. Florida Southern (1) 9-0 345 4
5. Western Washington 6-0 340 5
6. Metro State, Colo. 4-1 325 6
7. Indiana, Pa. 7-0 301 7
8. Dixie State, Utah 6-0 289 10
9. Southern Indiana 5-0 264 11
10. Montevallo, Ala. 7-0 235 12
11. Tarleton State, Texas 7-0 228 14
12. East Stroudsburg, Pa. 8-0 196 17
13. Livingstone, N.C. 5-0 174 13
14. Seattle Pacific, Wash. 9-2 165 16
15. Findlay, Ohio 4-1 156 8
16. Arkansas-Fort Smith 6-0 140 18
17. Minnesota State 8-2 125 9
18. Colorado School of Mines 6-0 100 19
19. Midwestern State, Texas 6-2 97 20
20. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 6-1 79 23
21. Georgia Southwestern 9-0 77 24
22. UNC-Pembroke 7-0 45 NR
23. Indianapolis, Ind. 6-0 44 NR
24. Franklin Pierce, N.H. 10-1 35 NR
25. North Alabama 6-2 30 NR
