KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The surging West Liberty University men’s basketball team remained firmly entrenched at No. 2 in the nation for the third consecutive week Tuesday afternoon when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its weekly NCAA Division II Top 25.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers (21-1), who are rapidly closing in on their third consecutive West Virginia Conference championship and their sixth national scoring title in the past seven years, won their only game of the week in convincing fashion to keep the heat on No. 1-ranked Bellarmine, Ky. (20-1), the defending national champions, in the race for the top spot. WLU and Bellarmine are the only remaining one-loss teams in the NCAA Division II ranks.
West Liberty blasted Shepherd, 100-63, on Wednesday in its lone outing last week before getting a rare mid-season weekend off. The Hilltoppers got this week off to a rousing start on Monday night with their 19th straight win, a 134-81 romp past Ohio Valley at the ASRC. The NABC coaches’ polls include games through Sunday.
There were few changes at the top of this week’s rankings as 14 of last week’s top 16 teams went undefeated during the week.
No. 3 Tarleton State, Texas (20-2) dropped to No. 5 after its 17-game winning streak was snapped in a 62-51 loss at unranked Incarnate Word. No. 8 Southern Indiana (17-4) slipped to No. 14 after a 65-59 loss at Indianapolis, which returned to this week’s rankings at No. 22.
Winona State, Minn. (21-2) moves up to No. 3 behind the Hilltoppers followed by Colorado School of Mines (18-2), Tarleton State, Alabama-Huntsville (17-3), Kentucky Wesleyan (18-3), Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (20-2) and Midwestern State, Texas (18-2) with Christian Brothers, Tenn. (17-3) rounding out the top 10.
This marks the 34th consecutive week the Hilltoppers have been ranked in the NABC Top 25, the longest run by a WVIAC program since Salem was ranked for an NCAA Division II record 76 straight weeks from 1997 to 2003. West Liberty was the only conference team receiving votes in this week’s poll.
The Hilltoppers hit the road on Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Pitt-Johnstown.
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