KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The West Liberty University men’s basketball team checked in at No. 2 on Tuesday when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its final NCAA Division II Top 25 of the 2021-22 season.
It’s the 15th Top 10 finish in the last 17 seasons for the Black and Gold (29-2), who will ride a 15-game winning streak into this weekend’s NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament after completing a sweep of the Mountain East Conference’s regular-season and tournament championships.
The top three teams remained unchanged from a week ago but there was plenty of movement elsewhere as five members of last week’s Top 10 failed to escape their respective conference tournaments unscathed.
Nova Southeastern (28-0) was a unanimous pick for No. 1 after breezing through the Sunshine State Conference Tournament to finish off the school’s first unbeaten regular season. The MEC champion Hilltoppers were a solid No. 2 ahead of PSAC West and PSAC Tournament champion Indiana, Pa. (29-2), which edged out West Liberty for the No. 1 seed and hosting rights at the Atlantic Regional. Queens, N.C. (28-3) and Augusta, Ga. (28-3) round out the top five.
Augustana, S.D. (24-3) dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 after an upset loss in a Northern Sun Conference semifinal while Lubbock Christian (24-3) fell from No. 4 to No. 7 following their loss in the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament. Cal State-San Marcos (20-4) moved up from No. 14 to No. 9 with its win over No. 8 Cal State-San Bernardino (23-3) in the CCAA title game. CSU-San Bernardino was No. 6 last week. Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State (28-5) jumped from No. 15 to No. 10 after rolling through the MIAA Tournament.
Fairmont State (23-7), the only other MEC team receiving votes, fell to No. 24 following a 21-point loss to West Liberty in an MEC Tournament semifinal.
The defending regional champion Hilltoppers are the No. 2 seed in this year’s Atlantic Regional and will open post-season play on Saturday afternoon when they take on No. 7 seed West Virginia State (23-7) in the 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal inside the Kovalchick Center on the IUP campus.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Final NCAA Division II Top 25
(March 8, 2022)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. Nova Southeastern (16) 28-0 400 1
2. WEST LIBERTY 29-2 381 2
3. Indiana, Pa. 29-2 370 3
4. Queens, N.C. 28-3 331 9
5. Augusta, Ga. 28-3 328 10
6. Augustana, S.D. 24-3 296 5
7. Lubbock Christian, Texas 24-3 288 4
8. CSU-San Bernardino 23-3 272 6
9. CSU-San Marcos 20-4 260 14
10. NW Missouri State 28-5 249 15
11. UNC Pembroke 26-3 224 8
12. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 25-4 214 7
13. Minnesota-Duluth 25-5 203 12
14. Bentley, Mass. 22-4 194 16
15. Chico State, Calif. 19-4 186 11
16. West Texas A&M 28-6 172 18
17. Upper Iowa 25-5 147 13
18. Central Oklahoma 24-6 128 17
19. St. Thomas Aquinas, N.Y. 26-4 110 20
20. Walsh, Ohio 22-6 86 NR
21. Miles, Ala. 24-4 69 20
22. Black Hills State, S.D. 22-7 52 NR
23. Mercyhurst, Pa. 24-6 50 22
24. Fairmont State 23-7 46 23
25. Barry, Fla. 20-8 29 NR
Others receiving votes: Fort Hays State (Kan.) 23, West Alabama 16, Flagler (Fla.) 14, Ferris State (Mich.) 12, Point Loma (Calif.) 5, Washburn (Kan.) 5, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 3, Hillsdale (Mich.) 3, Missouri-St. Louis 2, MSU Moorhead (Minn.) 2, California (Pa.) 1, Franklin Pierce (Vt.) 1.