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Bellarmine holds on to #1 spot

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By Kent Taylor - email

Road wins keep Knights on top of NABC poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the third week in succession, Bellarmine and West Liberty are the top two teams in the  NABC/Division II men's basketball rankings, but a loss by the third-ranked team for the second consecutive week has brought a slight shift at the top end of the poll.

Bellarmine and West Liberty, who share the nation's best won-loss record, remain 1-2 in the poll, but a loss by last week's No. 3 team, Tarleton State, has brought Winona State and Colorado School of Mines up one spot apiece before the Texans appear at No. 5 in the this week's rankings.

Alabama-Huntsville and Kentucky Wesleyan remain at sixth and seventh, respectively, while Lincoln Memorial moved up to No. 8 this week after Southern Indiana's loss at Indianapolis Saturday.  Midwestern State jumped up to No. 9 and Christian Brothers stayed put to round out this week's top 10.
 
Metropolitan State begins the second 10 this week, followed by Shaw, Indiana (Pa.), Southern Indiana and Western Washington, who is one of six teams in the poll who have reached the 20-win mark for the season.  Northern Kentucky comes in at No. 16 this week, followed by Alaska-Anchorage, Northwest Missouri State, Missouri Southern and South Carolina Aiken.

The final five teams in this week's poll are Bowie State, Indianapolis, Hillsdale, St. Cloud State and Central Missouri.  The NCAA will release its first regional rankings of the 2011-12 season next Wednesday, Feb. 15.
 
NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (Feb. 7, 2012)
                                                                                                 Record                   Points              Pvs
     1.        Bellarmine, Ky.  (8 first place votes)                    20-1                        200                   1
     2.        West Liberty, W.Va.                                                 20-1                        191                   2
     3.        Winona State, Minn.                                                21-2                        183                   4
     4.        Colorado School of Mines                                     18-2                        171                   5
     5.        Tarleton State, Texas                                              20-2                        162                   3
     6.        Alabama-Huntsville                                                17-3                        159                   6
     7.        Kentucky Wesleyan                                                18-3                        158                   7
     8.        Lincoln Memorial, Tenn.                                        20-2                        137                   9
     9.        Midwestern State, Texas                                        18-2                        134                  11
    10.       Christian Brothers, Tenn.                                       17-3                        127                  10
    11.       Metropolitan State, Colo.                                       18-3                        123                  12
    12.       Shaw, N.C.                                                                18-2                        105                  14
    13.       Indiana, Pa.                                                              17-3                        102                  13
    14.       Southern Indiana                                                     17-4                         98                     8
    15.       Western Washington                                              20-3                         91                   16
    16.       Northern Kentucky                                                  17-4                         84                   15
    17.       Alaska-Anchorage                                                  17-4                         65                   21
    18.       Northwest Missouri State                                       17-3                         63                   22
    19.       Missouri Southern                                                   18-5                         55                   23
    20.       South Carolina Aiken                                             16-4                         35                   24
    21.       Bowie State, Md.                                                      16-4                         29                   17
    22.       Indianapolis, Ind.                                                     16-5                         21                   NR
    23.       Hillsdale, Mich.                                                        18-3                         20                   18
    24.       St. Cloud State, Minn.                                             17-4                         18                   20
    25.       Central Missouri                                                      16-4                         14                   NR
 
     
Others receiving votes: Arkansas Tech 11, Montevallo (Ala.) 8, West Georgia 8, Adelphi (N.Y.) 6, District of Columbia 6, King (Tenn.) 6, Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 4, Franklin Pierce (N.H.) 3, Anderson (S.C.) 2, Dixie State (Utah) 1.
 
Dropped out: West Georgia (19), King (T-25), Winston-Salem State (T-25).
 
Records and previous rankings are through games of Feb. 5, 2012.  The next poll will be released on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Official release from Bellarmine sports information