Men's Basketball | 2/25/2020 1:28:00 PM

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The West Liberty University men's basketball team continued to climb the national rankings ladder on Tuesday, checking in at No. 13 in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Top 25 poll.
    Coach Ben Howlett's surging Hilltoppers (22-4) clinched their third consecutive Mountain East Conference championship with a pair of resounding wins. The Black and Gold hammered Frostburg State, 117-74, on Wednesday before handing fellow Atlantic Region power Fairmont State its worst home loss in more than a decade, 109-88, in a regionally-televised showdown on Sunday night.
    West Liberty has now won 16 of its last 17 games, outscoring its opponents by a whopping 107-78 margin over that stretch. Now averaging 105.3 ppg. on the season, WLU is closing in on an NCAA Division II-record 12^th national scoring title in the past 15 seasons.
    Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State remained a unanimous choice at No. 1 with Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) locked in at No. 2 after extending its winning streak to a nation's-best 27 games. West Texas A&M, UC-San Diego and Florida Southern rounded out the top five.
    Indiana (Pa.) was the only other Atlantic Region squad to crack the Top 25 at No. 7. Shippensburg (Pa.) and the University of Charleston were listed among teams also receiving votes.
    The Hilltoppers make their final road trip of the regular season on Wednesday when they head to South Euclid, Ohio for a 7:30 p.m. game against Notre Dame.
       Team (FPV)                                                 Rec          Pts       Pvs
  1. NW Missouri State (16)                        26-1         400           1
  2. Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.)                    27-1         380           2
  3. West Texas A&M                                   27-1         369           3
  4. UC-San Diego                                          26-1         355           4
  5. Florida Southern                                    24-2         336           5
  6. Azusa Pacific (Calif.)                              23-3         317           6
  7. Indiana (Pa.)                                           23-2         313           8
  8. Jefferson (Pa.)                                        24-2         285           9
  9. Valdosta State (Ga.)                              22-3         267         12
10. St. Edward's (Texas)                              24-3         248           7
11. Ferris State (Mich.)                               26-5         217         14
12. St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.)                   22-4         206         15
13. WEST LIBERTY                                        22-4         199         16
14. Nova Southeastern (Fla.)                     20-4         196         10
15. Indianapolis (Ind.)                                 21-5         174         19
16. Bridgeport (Conn.)                                21-3         166         11
17. Rogers State (Okla.)                              22-5         134         23
18. Missouri-St. Louis                                  23-5         122         24
19. UNC-Pembroke                                      21-5           94        NR
20. Alabama-Huntsville                               21-5           84        NR
21. Northern State (S.D.)                            22-6           45        NR
22. Missouri Southern                                 19-7           38         17
23. Cal State-San Bernardino                     20-6           37         18
24. Southern Indiana                                   21-5           32        NR
25. Dixie State (Utah)                                  21-6           31         13
       Others receiving votes: Lee (Tenn.) 30, Chico State (Calif.) 24, Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 23, Bellarmine (Ky.) 20, Queens (N.C.) 15, Shippensburg (Pa.) 14, Grand Valley State (Mich.) 10, Cal Poly-Pomona 6, King (Tenn.) 5, Point Loma (Calif.) 5, CHARLESTON 4, Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 3, Angelo State (Texas) 2, Le Moyne (N.Y.) 2, Augusta (Ga.) 1, Saint Anselm (N.H.) 1.