First Setback of Season Drops WPU to #3

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s basketball team endured its first loss of the season recently, but fortunately many others also suffered the same fate as the NAIA released its second top-25 poll Wednesday.

WPU (12-1, 10-1 Heart) fell one position to #3 with 518 points. The program’s streak of being ranked in the top 25 has now been extended to 47 consecutive polls.

The navy and gold lost for the first time on the year last Wednesday, but so did #1 Indiana Wesleyan. Several others went down since the most recent poll last month as well. With that said, IWU remains first with 551 points and 10 first-place votes, while LSU Shreveport is now the new #2 with 548 points and the other 10 first-place votes.

Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) is fourth, while Loyola (La.) is fifth. Benedictine (unofficially 27th) also represents the Heart of America Athletic Conference in the receiving votes section.

William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Graceland in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.

NAIA Men’s Basketball Rating #2 – January 13, 2021
(Number in parentheses is first-place votes)
1. Indiana Wesleyan (10)
2. LSU Shreveport (La.) (10)
3. William Penn
4. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
5. Loyola (La.)
6. Arizona Christian
8. Marian (Ind.)
9. The Master’s (Calif.)
10. Faulkner (Ala.)
11. Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)
13. Providence (Mont.)
14. Mid-America Christian (Okla.)
15. Morningside
16. Martin Methodist (Tenn.)
17. Georgetown (Ky.)
18. Talladega (Ala.)
20. LSU Alexandria (La.)
21. Texas A&M Texarkana
22. John Brown (Ark.)
23. College of Idaho
24. Saint Francis (Ind.)
25. Bethel (Kan.)

Others Receiving Votes: SAGU (Texas) 118, Benedictine (Kan.) 95, Cumberlands (Ky.) 90, Xavier (La.) 88, Point (Ga.) 56, Holy Cross (Ind.) 30, Oklahoma Wesleyan 27, Jamestown (N.D.) 25, Warner (Fla.) 23, Valley City State (N.D.) 14, Dillard (La.) 13, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 10, Indiana Tech 5, Grace (Ind.) 5, St. Ambrose 4, Westmont (Calif.) 4, CIU (S.C.) 4, Stillman (Ala.) 3, St. Francis (Ill.) 3.