William Penn Remains #1 Entering Postseason
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s basketball team handled its last few opponents with high-scoring performances to stay atop the national standings as the NAIA released its seventh and final regular-season top-25 poll Wednesday.
WPU (27-1, 18-1 Heart), which has won 16-straight games, remains first in the country with 589 points and 18 first-place votes. It marks the 59th-consecutive time the navy and gold have been in the top 25, the 16th-straight time they have been in the top five, and the eighth time they have been #1.
The Statesmen, who lead the NAIA in scoring with 94.8 points per outing, averaged 102.5 in their last four games.
William Penn is one of two fellow Heart of America Athletic Conference programs in the poll as Evangel is in a tie for 35th.
After WPU, #2 Loyola (La.) is second with the final three first-place votes, while Oklahoma Wesleyan, Arizona Christian, and Thomas More (Ky.) conclude the top five.
William Penn, the top seed in the Heart Tournament, returns to Oskaloosa Wednesday to host #8 seed MidAmerica Nazarene in the Heart Quarterfinals at 7 p.m.
NAIA Men’s Basketball Final Rating – February 23, 2022
(Number in parentheses is first-place votes)
1. William Penn (18)
2. Loyola (La.) (3)
3. Oklahoma Wesleyan
4. Arizona Christian
5. Thomas More (Ky.)
6. Talladega (Ala.)
7. Indiana Wesleyan
8. Carroll (Mont.)
9. College of Idaho
10. Science & Arts (Okla.)
11. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
12. Marian (Ind.)
13. William Jessup (Calif.)
14. Montana Tech
15. Faulkner (Ala.)
16. Saint Francis (Ind.)
17. Hope International (Calif.)
18. Southeastern (Fla.)
19. Indiana-South Bend
20. Bethel (Kan.)
21. LSU Shreveport
22. Indiana-Kokomo
23. Concordia (Neb.)
24. SAGU (Texas)
25. Indiana Tech
Receiving Votes: Florida College 93, Georgetown (Ky.) 81, Tennessee Southern 79, Briar Cliff 48, Oregon Tech 48, Union (Ky.) 43, Stillman (Ala.) 36, Southwestern (Kan.) 32, Missouri Baptist 28, Grace (Ind.) 20, Evangel (Mo.) 20, LSU Alexandria (La.) 16, Xavier (La.) 15, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 14, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 11, Cumberland (Tenn.) 7, Indiana Northwest (Ind.) 6, Ottawa (Ariz.) 6, Vanguard (Calif.) 3.
