NABC Rankings (Jan. 10)
INDIANAPOLIS – Some of the top Division II teams in the country experienced their first speed bumps of the 2020-21 season as the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top-25 Poll featured considerable movement from Tuesday’s release.
The same three programs from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference continued to receive attention as Findlay and Hillsdale remained in the top 25 at No. 11 and No. 23, respectively. Walsh is in the receiving votes category for the second week in a row.
Findlay, Hillsdale and Walsh, all had somewhat common opponents as the regular season continues throughout the league.
It was a tumultuous week for No. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, in the previous NABC Top-25 Poll as those ranked suffered one loss. Longtime No. 1 Northwest Missouri State is now third after getting beat by No. 8 Washburn (then-No. 5) and Washburn was toppled by No. 16 (then-No. 22) Missouri Western.
The same went for previous No. 2 Lincoln Memorial and No. 3 West Texas A&M as they slid down to 6 and 7.
Findlay (6-1, 5-1) was ranked sixth before splitting this past week of league competition against Malone and Walsh. The Oilers improved to 6-0 with an 80-77 win on their home court as Tre’Maine Gray led his team with 17 points.
The Oilers were a perfect 15-for-15 at the free throw line and shot over 49 percent from the field as a team.
In a rematch of last year’s conference championship semifinal clash, Walsh (3-1, 3-1) toppled No. 6 UF in North Canton in an 86-60 win. Senior guard Darryl Straughter caught fire with six threes as part of his game-high 24 points while Christian Simmons had 18 points and 10 boards off the bench.
Hillsdale (6-1, 6-1) moved up two spots to No. 23 following home wins against Malone and Walsh.
The Chargers are at the top of the regular season standings in league play. Davis Larson was the high man against Walsh as he scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a pair of triples. He was joined in double figures by Patrick Cartier and Kyle Goessler with 16 points apiece.
Hillsdale was as balanced as head coach John Tharp could ask for in Sunday’s win over Malone as the Chargers stormed back from a 17-point second half deficit. Connor Hill had 18 points as all five starters had 12 or more points. HC shot almost 71 percent (22-31) in the final half of play to eventually win, 80-70.