KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A loss to Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit during the final week of the regular season knocked the West Liberty University men’s basketball team out of the No. 1 spot in this week’s National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Top 25 coaches’ poll.
The Hilltoppers (26-2) slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 in this week’s voting as the season-long game of leapfrog at the top of the polls continued. Defending national champion Bellarmine, Ky. (24-2), which had been replaced at No. 1 by West Liberty in last week’s poll, reclaimed the top spot in this week’s rankings.
A total of six teams have held the No. 1 spot for various lengths of time this year. In addition to the Hilltoppers and the Knights, Missouri Southern, Metro State (Colo.), Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) and Kentucky Wesleyan have all spent a week or two on the top rung of the NCAA Division II ladder.
Bellarmine was a unanimous pick this week, receiving 200 points after sweeping all 8 coaches’ votes. Colorado School of Mines (24-2) moved up to No. 2 with 189 points while Alabama-Huntsville (23-3) squeezed ahead of West Liberty at No. 3 with 182 points. The Hilltoppers held down No. 4 with 177 points while fellow Atlantic Region power Shaw, N.C. (24-2) rounded out the top five with 167 points.
Charleston (23-5), which joined the Top 25 party a week ago, moved up to No. 22 this week with 30 points.
It’s the 37thconsecutive week that West Liberty has been ranked in the NABC Top 25, the longest run by a current WVIAC program.
The three-time WVIAC champion Hilltoppers, who have already clinched their fifth national scoring title in the past six seasons with an average of 103.3 ppg., open defense of their WVIAC Tournament title on Thursday with a quarterfinal game against an opponent to be determined.
NABC DIVISION II TOP 25
Men’s Basketball
(Feb. 28, 2012)
Team Rec Pts Pvs
- 1. Bellarmine, Ky. (8) 24-2 200 2
- 2. Colorado School of Mines 24-2 189 3
- 3. Alabama-Huntsville 23-3 182 4
- 4. WEST LIBERTY 26-2 177 1
- 5. Shaw, N.C. 24-2 167 6
- 6. Midwestern State, Texas 23-3 153 5
- 7. Tarleton State, Texas 24-4 152 7
- 8. Christian Brothers, Tenn. 21-5 137 11
- 9. Indiana, Pa. 22-4 126 13
- 10. Northern Kentucky 21-5 125 8
- 11. Western Washington 25-4 123 14
- 12. Metropolitan State, Colo. 22-5 111 15
- 13. Southern Indiana 21-6 103 9
- 14. Kentucky Wesleyan 21-6 84 19
- 15. Alaska-Anchorage 21-5 82 20
- 16. Anderson, S.C. 22-4 75 21
- 17. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 24-4 69 12
- 18. NW Missouri State 21-5 58 16
- 19. Missouri Southern 22-6 54 10
- 20. Indianapolis, Ind. 19-7 39 20
- 21. Arkansas Tech 21-5 36 17
- 22. CHARLESTON 23-5 30 25
- 23. District of Columbia 22-4 23 18
- 24. Franklin Pierce, N.H. 21-6 21 NR
- 25. Seattle Pacific, Wash. 21-6 18 24
Others receiving votes: Hillsdale (Mich.) 14, Florida Tech 12, Washburn (Kan.) 10; West Georgia 9; King (Tenn.) 7, Winona State (Minn.) 5, LIU-C.W. Post (N.Y.) 3, USC-Aiken 3, Bemidji State (Minn.) 2, Bowie State (Md.) 1
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