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NWC Lurks Just Outside of Top 20
The Northwest College men’s basketball team will head into the holidays in the position it has found itself for much of the season — close, but not quite in the nation’s top 20.
Head coach Andy Ward had suspected his Trappers might find themselves ranked again after handing then-No. 18 Sheridan College its first loss of the season last weekend. That win improved Northwest to 14-2 overall and 2-0 in Region IX North play this season.
But it wasn’t enough to budge the Trappers in the polls. Northwest was two places outside of the top 20 a week ago, and when the NJCAA released its latest men’s basketball poll on Tuesday, the Trappers were still two spots away.
In fact, the team even lost three votes from last week’s ballots to this week’s. The team sits in a three-way tie immediately behind Sheridan.
Western Wyoming, the only Region IX team to appear in this week’s poll, makes its debut at No. 11 after improving to 13-0 overall.
Otero, which plays in Region IX’s South division, is the only other school from the Trappers’ region to receive votes in this week’s poll.
No update had been posted for the women’s basketball poll. The Trapper women head to the holidays with a 9-6 mark. Northwest College resumes action on Jan. 7 with a women’s and men’s Region IX North doubleheader at Little Big Horn College. The teams are back in Cabre Gymnasium on Jan. 14 against Casper College.
NJCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL
1. Monroe 12-0
2. Northwest Florida 12-0
3. Indian Hills-Ottumwa 13-0
4. South Plains 11-0
5. Salt Lake 11-0
6. Chipola 13-0
7. Barton 14-0
8. Coffeyville 11-1
9. Vincennes 14-1
10. Hutchinson 13-1
11. Western Wyoming 13-0
12. Southern Idaho 12-1
13. Kansas City-Kansas 11-0
14. Eastern Oklahoma 12-1
15. (tie) Odessa 12-1 and Palm Beach State 12-2
17. Shelton State 8-1
18. North Dakota State College of Science 14-1
19. Pensacola State 15-2
20. Northeast Mississippi 7-1
Others: Sheridan, NORTHWEST, Arizona Western, Garden City, Midland, Waycross, Lawson State, Eastern Utah, Kankakee, Cowley County, Dodge City, Cloud County, Delgado, Howard, North Idaho, Seward County, Lamar State-Port Arthur, San Jacinto-Central, Cochise, Hagerstown, McLennan, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Connors State, Otero, Three Rivers (Mo.).