KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The West Liberty University men’s basketball team moved up to No. 3 in this week’s NCAA Division II Top 25 poll conducted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ (NABC) Division II rankings panel.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers (18-1) are the nation’s highest-ranked team with one loss after holding off Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit, 87-82, on Saturday in their only game of the week.
Metropolitan State, Colo. (17-0) received 13 of the 16 first-place votes for the second straight week to hold onto the No. 1 spot with defending national champion Western Washington (18-0) collecting the other three first-place votes to remain No. 2.
West Liberty replaced Kentucky Wesleyan at No. 3 as KWC fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with an audible thud, dropping all three games a week ago to slip all the way to No. 18 in this week’s poll, which doesn’t include games from Monday night.
Seattle Pacific (15-2) and Cal Poly-Pomona (15-1) each moved up one spot to round out the top five with Bellarmine, Ky. (15-2), Minnesota State (16-2), Indiana, Pa. (15-2), Florida Southern (14-2) and Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (14-2) completing the top 10.
The Hilltoppers, who opened this week with a 111-72 thrashing of Bluefield State on Monday, 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.
West Liberty’s three-time defending West Virginia Conference champions are the only WVIAC team in this week’s Top 25. Charleston, which had jumped into the poll at No. 23 a week ago after handing the Hilltoppers their only loss of the season, didn’t receive a single vote this week after taking back-to-back losses against Seton Hill and Wheeling Jesuit. Fairmont State fell just short of the rankings with 17 votes.
West Liberty returns to action Thursday night with a 7:30 p.m. game at West Virginia State.
NABC DIVISION II TOP 25
Men’s Basketball
(Through games of Sunday, Jan. 27)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. Metropolitan State (Colo.) (13) 17-0 397 1
2. Western Washington (3) 18-0 387 2
3. WEST LIBERTY 17-1 365 4
4. Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 15-2 348 5
5. Cal Poly-Pomona 15-1 342 6
6. Bellarmine (Ky.) 15-2 317 8
7. Minnesota State 16-2 261 7
8. Indiana (Pa.) 15-2 259 9
9. Florida Southern 14-2 249 14
10. Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) 14-2 240 12
11. Alabama-Huntsville 14-3 231 13
12. Barton (N.C.) 14-2 203 15
13. Southern Indiana 14-3 191 10
14. Fort Lewis (Colo.) 14-2 171 20
15. Indianapolis (Ind.) 14-3 162 11
16. Winston-Salem State (N.C.) 15-3 139 19
17. Winona State (Minn.) 18-3 137 25
18. Kentucky Wesleyan 14-3 113 3
19. Rollins (Fla.) 14-3 87 17
20. East Stroudsburg (Pa.) 15-2 86 NR
21. Washburn (Kan.) 12-4 77 24
22. Saint Anselm (N.H.) 14-3 76 NR
23. Adams State (Colo.) 13-3 66 18
24. Harding (Ark.) 16-3 57 NR
25. Wayne State (Mich.) 13-3 54 22
Others receiving votes: St. Cloud State (Minn.) 29, North Alabama 24, FAIRMONT STATE 17, Dominican (N.Y.) 16, Central Missouri 13, Grand Valley State (Mich.) 12, Montevallo (Ala.) 11, Saint Leo (Fla.) 11, Cal State-San Bernardino 10, Colorado Mesa 8, Michigan Tech 8, Dixie State (Utah) 6, Wingate (N.C.) 6, Assumption (Mass.) 5, Newman (Kan.) 4, Augustana (S.D.) 2, Drury (Mo.) 2.
