NABC Top-25 Poll (Jan. 19)
INDIANAPOLIS – Findlay and Hillsdale continued to represent the Great Midwest Athletic Conference by making gains in the new National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll that came out late Tuesday.
Hillsdale went from No. 23 to No. 18 while Findlay made a return back into the top 10 at No. 9 after each program won one game over the past week of competition.
After a tumultuous week prior around the top 25 in Division II that shook things up, the top four men’s programs remained constant with Colorado School of Mines at the top followed by Northern State, Northwest Missouri State and West Liberty.
The Chargers (7-1, 7-1) have been a mainstay in the top 25 for the past few weeks as they extended their current win streak to four straight. Hillsdale toppled Tiffin at home as two-time conference player of the week Patrick Cartier scored a game-high 27 points.
Cartier was joined in double-figures by one other teammate, Davis Larson, who had 13 points. Hillsdale held the Dragons to under 29 percent shooting in the first half and kept its opponent tamed with a 35.2 percent clip for the game.
Hillsdale is the top shooting team in the Great Midwest at 49.7 percent and is third in the league in three-point field percentage.
Hillsdale has a half game lead on Findlay in the current conference standings as the Oilers (7-1, 6-1) bounced back from their first season to also beat Tiffin. UF shot 68 percent from the field and four players checked in with double-digit scoring totals led by Nathan Bruns with 18 on 8-9 shooting.
The Oilers were previously 11th in the NABC Poll and sat as high as sixth in the 2020-21 campaign. UF sweeps through the South for a road swing against Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday and will face Trevecca Nazarene for the third time this year on Saturday.
Hillsdale will face the same two common opponents on the road with the dates flipped.
Walsh (3-1, 3-1) remains in the receiving votes category for the third straight week, this time collecting 1 vote from the organization.