KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The surging West Liberty University men’s basketball team received its third consecutive No. 2 national ranking on Tuesday when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its weekly NCAA Division II Top 25.
Coach Ben Howlett’s Hilltoppers (26-2) posted two more blowout wins last week to close out the regular season on a 12-game winning streak. West Liberty will be the No. 1 seed in this week’s Mountain East Conference Tournament after winning 22 of their last 23 games en route to a fifth consecutive MEC crown.
There was very little movement in this week’s poll as the top 12 spots remained unchanged. Nova Southeastern (25-0) stayed put at No. 1 heading into its Sunshine State Conference Tournament with Indiana, Pa. (26-2), Lubbock Christian (25-2) and Augustana (24-2) rounding out the top five.
Fairmont State (21-6) – the MEC’s only other ranked team – suffered an upset loss to Frostburg State and slipped from No. 16 to No. 23 in this week’s nationwide balloting.
The West Liberty men open MEC Tournament play in Friday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal when they take on the survivor of Wednesday night’s first-round game between No. 8 Alderson Broaddus and No. 9 Wheeling.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA Division II Top 25
(March 1, 2022)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. Nova Southeastern (16) 25-0 400 1
2. WEST LIBERTY 26-2 381 2
3. Indiana, Pa. 26-2 365 3
4. Lubbock Christian, Texas 25-2 350 4
5. Augustana, S.D. 24-2 336 5
6. CSU-San Bernardino 22-2 320 6
7. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 24-3 298 7
8. UNC Pembroke 25-2 284 8
9. Queens, N.C. 25-3 273 9
10. Augusta, Ga. 25-3 255 10
11. Chico State, Calif. 19-3 226 11
12. Minnesota-Duluth 24-4 225 12
13. Upper Iowa 25-4 208 14
14. CSU-San Marcos 17-4 178 19
15. NW Missouri State 25-5 169 13
16. Bentley, Mass. 19-4 147 20
17. Central Oklahoma 23-5 137 15
18. West Texas A&M 25-6 116 22
19. Miles, Ala. 23-3 100 23
20. St. Thomas Aquinas, N.Y. 24-4 91 24
21. Fort Hays State, Kan. 22-5 88 18
22. Mercyhurst, Pa. 23-5 72 17
23. FAIRMONT STATE 21-6 61 16
24. West Alabama 23-5 43 NR
25. Flagler, Fla. 21-6 27 21
Also receiving votes: Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 21, Michigan Tech 17, Truman State (Mo.) 15, Georgia College 10, West Alabama 6, Black Hills State (S.D.) 1