Men's Basketball | 1/18/2011 10:47:47 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The unbeaten West Liberty University men's basketball team is the No. 1-ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation for the second straight week.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers received all 8 first-place votes Tuesday afternoon when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its weekly NCAA Division II national Top 25 coaches' poll.

The defending West Virginia Conference champions improved to 13-0 last week with WVIAC road wins at Fairmont State (99-98) and Bluefield State (116-65).

West Liberty is one of only three remaining unbeaten teams in the NCAA Division II ranks. The other unbeaten squads are No. 10 Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (14-0) and No. 12 University of Tampa, Fla. (16-0).

Bellarmine, Ky. (15-1) also picked up a pair of wins last week to hang onto the No. 2 spot behind the Hilltoppers with Augusta State, Ga. (14-1), Southern Indiana (15-1) and Cal State-Dominguez Hills (13-1) each moving up two spots to round out the top five.

Fairmont State was the only other WVIAC team to receiveTop 25 votes this week. The Falcons were listed among the teams also receiving votes after becoming just the second team all season to hold the high-flying Hilltoppers under 100 points.

West Liberty, which has won 37 of its last 38 conference games dating back to the 2008-09 season, is only the second WVIAC team ever to hold down the No. 1 spot since the league made the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II affiliation during the mid-1990s.

Salem-Teikyo University, now known as Salem International University and no longer affiliated with the league, was ranked No. 1 for seven consecutive weeks during the 1999-2000 season.

The Hilltoppers, who continue to lead the nation in scoring by a wide margin at 120.3 ppg., return to action Wednesday night with an 8 p.m. tipoff at Seton Hill.

NABC Division II Men's Basketball
Regular Season Poll No. 9
(Records through games of Sunday, Jan. 16)
            W-L    Pts    Pvs
    1.     WEST LIBERTY (8)     13-0     200     1
    2.     Bellarmine, Ky.     15-1     191     2
    3.     Augusta State, Ga.     14-1     182     5
    4.     Southern Indiana     15-1     168     6
    5.     Cal State-Dom. Hills     13-1     162     7
    6.     Findlay, Ohio     14-1     154     8
    7.     Alabama-Huntsville     15-2     151     9
    8.     Fort Hays State, Kan.     14-2     142     3
    9.     Incarnate Word, Texas     13-1     131     12
    10.     Lincoln Memorial, Tenn.     14-0     129     11
    11.     Hillsdale, Mich.     14-1     125     4
    12.     Tampa, Fla.     16-0     112     16
    13.     Central Oklahoma     16-2     110     15
    14.     Missouri Southern     13-1     80     22
    15.     Minnesota State     13-2     78     10
    16.     Central Washington     13-2     75     17
    17.     Kentucky Wesleyan     12-2     67     18
    18.     Grand Valley State, Mich.     13-3     61     13
    19.     Christian Brothers, Tenn.     14-3     54     14
    20.     Humboldt State, Calif.     13-1     50     NR
    21.     Georgia Southwestern     11-3     27     NR
    22.     Harding, Ark.     13-2     25     NR
    23.     West Texas A&M     13-2     22     19
    24.     Bentley, Mass.     12-3     19     20
    25.     Wayne State, Mich.     11-3     15     NR   
    Others receiving votes: Winona State (Minn.) 14, Arkansas Tech 12, Indianapolis (Ind.) 7, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 6, Fairmont State 5, Valdosta State (Ga.) 5, Northern Kentucky 4, Metropolitan State (Colo.) 3, Stonehill (Mass.) 3, Alaska-Anchorage 2, Midwestern State (Texas) 2, Saint Anselm (N.H.) 2.