Men's Basketball | 1/15/2019 2:07:00 PM

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) put the surging West Liberty University men's basketball team back in the Top 10 in Tuesday's latest NCAA Division II Top 25 weekly poll.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (11-2) checked in at No. 9 this week, picking up two more wins to give them 11 wins in their last 12 outings.
    The Black and Gold cruised to a 105-90 win against West Virginia State on Thursday before shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor in handing Charleston its first home loss of the season on Saturday by a 98-89 tally.
    This is the 129^th Top 10 ranking for the Hilltoppers – all coming in the past decade. That's the fourth-highest total of Top 10 rankings in nearly 60 years of NCAA Division II polls, trailing only Kentucky Wesleyan (258), Southern Indiana (151) and Virginia Union (150).
    West Liberty has been ranked in every NCAA Division II poll since Feb. 2, 2010. That 136-week streak is both the longest active streak and the longest all-time. Top-ranked Bellarmine (Ky.) has the second-longest active streak at 70 weeks.
    The WLU men return to action Thursday night when they host UVa-Wise. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
       Team (FPV)                                                      Rec           Pts        Pvs
  1.  Bellarmine, Ky. (16)                                  14-0          400             1
  2.  NW Missouri State                                   16-0          384             2
  3.  Morehouse, Ga.                                         13-1          358             7
  4.  St. Edward's, Texas                                  15-1          350          11
  5.  Indiana, Pa.                                                  14-1          327             3
  6.  Nova Southeastern, Fla.                         13-1          313             4
  7.  USC-Aiken                                                    13-1          297             5
  8.  Ashland, Ohio                                             14-1          281             6
  9.  WEST LIBERTY                                            11-2          267          12
10.  Queens, N.C.                                               15-2          235          13
11.  Point Loma, Calif.                                      13-2          217          16
12.  Findlay, Ohio                                               14-2          209          17
13.  UC-San Diego                                              14-3          168          18
14.  St. Thomas Aquinas, N.Y.                       13-2          159          19
15.  Saint Anselm, N.H.                                    12-2          155             9
16.  West Texas A&M                                      16-3          150             8
17.  Lynn, Fla.                                                      13-1          144          21
18.  Bentley, Mass.                                            14-2          140          10
19.  Chaminade, Hawai'i                                 13-2          124          20
20.  Texas A&M-Commerce                          13-2          102          24
21.  Valdosta State, Ga.                                   13-3             84          14
22.  Florida Southern                                       12-3             72          22
23.  Saint Martin's, Wash.                              12-2             53         NR
24.  Catawba, N.C.                                             13-2             37         NR
25.  Southern Nazarene, Okla.                     13-3             34          15
        Others receiving votes: Shippensburg (Pa.) 22, Southern Arkansas 19, Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) 13, UNC-Pembroke 12, Colorado School of Mines 11, Belmont Abbey (N.C.) 9, Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 9, Lincoln (Mo.) 9, Missouri Southern 8, Northern State (S.D.) 8, Tarleton State (Texas) 8, Eckerd (Fla.) 4, Western Oregon 3, FAIRMONT STATE 2, Cal State-East Bay 2, Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 2, Davenport (Mich.) 1.