Men's Basketball | 10/31/2017 12:23:00 PM

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Head coach Ben Howlett and his West Liberty University men's basketball team checked in at No. 17 Tuesday afternoon when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its annual NCAA Division II Preseason Top 25 poll.
    The Hilltoppers – who opened the 2016-17 season at No. 1 – are no strangers to the NABC poll. They've held the top spot in the coaches' Top 25 at some point in each of the past seven years. The Black and Gold finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 7 in the final poll – their seventh consecutive Top 10 finish.
    West Liberty has appeared in every Top 25 poll since Feb. 2, 2010, a 112-week run that is by far the longest streak of unbroken Top 25 appearances since the poll was instituted at the start of the 1960-61 season.
    This is WLU's third Top 25 national ranking of the 2017-18 preseason. The Hilltoppers were No. 12 in Basketball Times' NCAA Division II rankings and No. 18 in the Division II Bulletin.
    As is usually the case, West Liberty has plenty of company in the national rankings from its Mountain East Conference brethren.
    Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit – which knocked the Hilltoppers out of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional on a late 3-pointer in overtime in March – is hot on WLU's heels in the coaches' poll at No. 19. Defending Atlantic Region champion and NCAA Division II national runner-up Fairmont State was among numerous teams also receiving votes but fell one vote shy of the Top 25.
    Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State received 15 of the 16 first-place votes to earn the No. 1 spot in this year's preseason poll. Queens (N.C.) was No. 2 with the lone remaining first-place vote with Bellarmine (Ky.), Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) and St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.) rounding out the top five.
    West Liberty tips off the 2017-18 season at home on Nov. 10 when the Hilltoppers take on Cheyney (Pa.) in the MEC/PSAC Crossover. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
       Team (FPV)                                                      Rec           Pts        Pvs
  1.  NW Missouri State (15)                          35-1          399             1
  2.  Queens, N.C. (1)                                        30-4          374             6
  3.  Bellarmine, Ky.                                           32-4          351             2
  4.  Lincoln Memorial, Tenn.                        30-6          324          15
  5.  St. Thomas Aquinas, N.Y.                       28-6          308         NR
  6.  Indiana, Pa.                                                  28-4          304             8
  7.  Chico State, Calif.                                      26-8          297         NR
  8.  Shippensburg, Pa.                                     27-4          254             9
  9.  Colorado School of Mines                     30-5          236          11
10.  Ferris State, Mich.                                    28-5          230          14
11.  Texas-Permian Basin                               26-6          216          17
12.  Barry, Fla.                                                     23-7          210         NR
13.  Rollins, Fla.                                                24-11          194         NR
14.  California Baptist                                       26-5          180          13
15.  SW Minnesota State                                28-6          159          18
16.  Fort Lewis, Colo.                                        26-7          134          23
17.  WEST LIBERTY                                            28-4          117             7
18.  Merrimack, Mass.                                  19-12             88         NR
19.  WHEELING JESUIT                                    25-8             83         NR
20.  Findlay, Ohio                                               25-7             72          25
21.  West Texas A&M                                      26-9             67         NR
22.  Western Washington                              25-6             63          12
23.  Arkansas-Monticello                                23-7             51         NR
24.  Kentucky Wesleyan                                  28-3             46             5
25.  Delta State, Miss.                                      23-9             45         NR                
        Others receiving votes: FAIRMONT STATE 44, Indianapolis (Ind.) 40, Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 39, Le Moyne (N.Y.) 39, UNC-Pembroke 31, UC-San Diego 24, Virginia Union 23, Central Missouri 21, Augusta (Ga.) 16, Dixie State (Utah) 16, Benedict (S.C.) 14, Columbus State (Ga.) 13, Northern State (S.D.) 12, Tarleton State (Texas) 10, Bloomfield (N.J.) 8, MSU-Moorhead (Minn.) 8, Jefferson (Pa.) 6, Barton (N.C.) 5, Valdosta State (Ga.) 4, Washburn (Kan.) 3, Kutztown (Pa.) 2, Western Oregon 2, Cal State-San Marcos 1, San Francisco State (Calif.) 1.