Men's Basketball | 10/18/2017 3:03:00 PM
BEAVERTON, Ore. – The West Liberty University men's basketball team has been ranked No. 18 in
the Division II Bulletin's 27
th annual men's basketball Preseason Top 25.
Coming off a 28-4 season that included a Mountain East Conference Tournament championship and their eighth consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament bid, first-year head coach
Ben Howlett and his Hilltoppers were the only Mountain East Conference squad to crack the national website's Top 25 rankings.
Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State – which upended MEC champion Fairmont State in the NCAA Division II national title game – was ranked No. 1 with Queens (N.C.), St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.), Shippensburg (Pa.) and Chico State (Calif.) rounding out the top five.
Senior All-America guard
Dan Monteroso – the MEC's 2016-17 Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year – leads a solid group of returning players for Howlett, who bolstered his roster during the off-season with a pair of talented transfers along with some outstanding freshman prospects.
The Hilltoppers open at home on Nov. 11 against Cheyney (Pa.) in the MEC/PSAC Challenge. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Division II Bulletin Top 25
1. NW Missouri State
2. Queens (N.C.)
3. St. Thomas Aquinas
4. Shippensburg
5. Chico State
6. Bellarmine
7. Lincoln Memorial
8. Indiana (Pa.)
9. Colorado School of Mines
10. Rollins
11. Texas-Permian Basin
12. Ferris State
13. California Baptist
14. SW Minnesota State
15. Merrimack
16. Barry
17. Fort Lewis
18. WEST LIBERTY
19. Indianapolis
20. Arkansas-Monticello
21. West Texas A&M
22. Delta State
23. UNC-Pembroke
24. Western Washington
25. Kentucky Wesleyan
Teams to Watch
Findlay, Philadelphia, Virginia Union, Christian Brothers, Benedict, Central Missouri, MSU-Moorhead, Tarleton State, UC-San Diego, San Francisco State