KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In a week that saw 13 members of the NCAA Division II Top 25 take at least one loss, the West Liberty University men’s basketball team held onto its No. 3 spot in the weekly poll issued on Tuesday afternoon by the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ (NABC) Division II rankings panel.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers blasted Ohio Valley, 112-55, on Monday and pulled away from perennial Atlantic Region power Alderson-Broaddus, 92-79, on Saturday to stretch their winning streak to eight games. This week’s poll includes results from games played through Sunday, Feb. 10.
The top four teams were unchanged in this week’s rankings as No. 1 Metro State, Colo. (21-0), No. 2 Western Washington (22-0) and No. 4 Cal Poly-Pomona (19-1) all matched West Liberty with 2-0 weeks.
The carnage began at the No. 5 spot where Seattle Pacific (17-3) moved up one spot with No. 6 Florida Southern (18-2) and No. 7 Alabama-Huntsville (18-3) hopping up two spots each. Minnesota State (19-3) slipped from No. 5 to No. 8 with a loss while East Stroudsburg, Pa. (19-2) checked in at No. 9 – its highest ranking ever – and No. 10 Saint Anselm, N.H. (18-3) made its first Top 10 appearance since 2004.
West Liberty (23-1), which has all but clinched its seventh national scoring title in the past eight seasons, became the first NCAA Division II team to reach 23 wins this season on Monday night with a 95-77 rout of the Charleston squad which had handed the Hilltoppers their lone loss a month ago.
Crutchfield’s crew has now appeared in 49 consecutive NABC Top 25 polls dating back to December 2009. That’s the longest run in the national rankings for a WVIAC team since former league member Salem was ranked for an NCAA Division II record 76 consecutive weeks from 1997 to 2003.
The league-leading Hilltoppers, who are trying to become the first West Virginia Conference team in nearly four decades to win four consecutive WVIAC titles, are the conference’s lone representative in this week’s poll. Fairmont State, which hosts West Liberty in a regionally-televised game on Saturday (4 p.m. on Root Sports Pittsburgh), was among teams also receiving votes.
NABC DIVISION II TOP 25
Men’s Basketball
(Through games of Sunday, Feb. 10)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. Metro State, Colo. (13) 21-0 397 1
2. Western Washington (3) 22-0 387 2
3. WEST LIBERTY 22-1 365 3
4. Cal Poly-Pomona 19-1 355 4
5. Seattle Pacific, Wash. 17-3 333 6
6. Florida Southern 18-2 322 8
7. Alabama-Huntsville 18-3 304 9
8. Minnesota State 19-3 277 5
9. East Stroudsburg, Pa. 19-2 273 13
10. Saint Anselm, N.H. 18-3 255 15
11. Indiana, Pa. 18-3 242 7
12. Indianapolis, Ind. 17-4 203 21
13. Bellarmine, Ky. 17-4 196 11
14. Winston-Salem State, N.C. 17-4 157 24
15. Winona State, Minn. 21-4 144 12
16. Saint Leo, Fla. 17-4 135 NR
17. Gannon, Pa. 19-4 127 NR
18. Drury, Mo. 17-4 105 NR
19. Dixie State, Utah 16-4 93 NR
20. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 16-4 84 16
21. Wisconsin-Parkside 16-5 74 NR
22. Fort Lewis, Colo. 15-4 61 20
23. Southern Indiana 16-5 57 10
24. North Alabama 17-4 44 NR
25. Washburn, Kan. 15-5 43 17
