Men’s Basketball earns highest ever ranking at no.7
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Kansas Wesleyan moved up two spots in this week’s NAIA Division II Top 25 poll to be ranked no.7.

The no.7 ranking is the highest ever for the Coyotes, eclipsing the previous school record of no.9 first reached in the 2000-01 season, and equaled with last week’s ranking.

KWU won its 13th consecutive game on Saturday with a 73-55 rout of Bethel College, improving the Coyotes’ overall record to 22-3. The 13-game win streak equals the second best run in basketball history, as the 1950 team won 13 straight to open the season, before finishing with a 22-2 record, and making Wesleyan’s last appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.

Wesleyan stands just three wins away from tying the school record for season wins of 25, which was set in 2000, the last time the Coyotes won the KCAC Championship.

The Coyotes hold a two-game lead in the Kansas Conference with a 15-1 record heading into the final week of play. A win this week will make Wesleyan the first team since Saint Mary joined the conference in 2000-01 that a men’s team has won more than 15 games in the KCAC regular season.

The Coyotes have two key road contests this week at McPherson on Thursday, and at Saint Mary on Saturday. A win at McPherson will give the Coyotes the outright KCAC Championship, and the no.1 seed in the KCAC Tournament which begins next Wednesday.

The KCAC has two automatic qualifiers for the NAIA Division-II National Tournament. The winner of the KCAC Post-Season Tournament is the first automatic berth, and the second berth is the highest remaining seed in the KCAC Tournament regardless of finish in the tournament.

To see the complete polls for all divisions, please visit www.naia.org

-- KWU SI --