The Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball team held steady at the No. 3 spot in the NAIA Division I Coaches’ Top 25 poll, released Tuesday by the national office.
The Warriors (18-1, 4-1 Frontier Conference) suffered their first loss of the season in an 89-80 defeat at Rocky Mountain College last Saturday, but still maintained their spot in the top five, the program’s highest ranking ever.
LCSC leads NAIA Division I with 18 victories, and received 256 points in the fourth regular-season edition of the rankings.
Columbia (Mo.), the last remaining unbeaten team in the country among NAIA Division I squads, was a unanimous choice to top the polls this week, receiving all 11 first-place votes from the nationwide panel of coaches.
Columbia got 281 overall points, 10 ahead of No. 2 Pikeville, up three spots from last week’s rankings. Behind No. 3 Lewis-Clark State, William Carey (Miss.) was fourth with 254 points, and Oklahoma Baptist rounded out the top five with 252 points.
No. 12 MSU-Northern and No. 19 Westminster also represented the Frontier Conference in this week’s rankings. The Warriors will tangle with the Lights this Saturday in Havre, Mont. in an anticipated matchup of two of the league’s best.
LCSC will also have a tough test away from home on Friday night when it travels to Great Falls, led by two-time FC Player of the Week Marcel Towns.
The Warriors return to the Activity Center on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 for games with Carroll and MSU-Northern.
2012 - 13 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - (Jan. 15)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2012 – 13 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Columbia (Mo.) (11) | 17-0 | 281 |
| 2 | 5 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 17-1 | 271 |
| 3 | 3 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 18-1 | 256 |
| 4 | 6 | William Carey (Miss.) | 15-2 | 254 |
| 5 | 4 | Oklahoma Baptist | 15-3 | 252 |
| 6 | 7 | Lee (Tenn.) | 15-1 | 232 |
| 7 | 8 | Westmont (Calif.) | 14-3 | 222 |
| T8 | 10 | Cal State San Marcos | 15-4 | 209 |
| T8 | 14 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 16-2 | 209 |
| 10 | 25 | John Brown (Ark.) | 15-3 | 188 |
| 11 | 13 | Evangel (Mo.) | 13-4 | 187 |
| 12 | 10 | Montana State-Northern | 16-3 | 181 |
| 13 | 16 | Xavier (La.) | 15-3 | 173 |
| 14 | 1 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 15-3 | 168 |
| 15 | 17 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 17-2 | 166 |
| 16 | RV | Hope International (Calif.) | 17-1 | 145 |
| 17 | 21 | SAGU (Texas) | 14-3 | 142 |
| 18 | 20 | Emmanuel (Ga.) | 16-2 | 121 |
| 19 | 18 | Westminster (Utah) | 14-4 | 120 |
| 20 | 19 | Rogers State (Okla.) | 13-5 | 119 |
| 21 | 23 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 16-3 | 82 |
| 22 | RV | Philander Smith (Ark.) | 12-4 | 78 |
| 23 | 9 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 8-4 | 77 |
| 24 | 10 | Texas College | 13-4 | 76 |
| 25 | RV | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 14-5 | 74 |
Others receiving votes: Arizona Christian 60; Concordia (Calif.) 34; Texas Wesleyan 31; Southern-New Orleans (La.) 28; Oklahoma City 18; Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 13; Shawnee State (Ohio) 9; LSU Shreveport (La.) 7; Mid-Continent (Ky.) 3.
