KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As Lewis-Clark State continues to lead the Frontier Conference men's basketball standings, the Warriors are earning more national recognition.
Lewis-Clark has climbed to No. 3 in the latest NAIA men's basketball top 25, up from fifth in the previous poll. Providence and Carroll College join the Warriors in the new rankings, which were released on Wednesday.
After making a run to the NAIA national semifinals last year, Lewis-Clark has just one loss this season -- a 78-69 setback at Carroll College in December. In fact, the Warriors' past two losses came again the Fighting Saints, the other a 66-55 loss to end their season in the national semifinals last year. Lewis-Clark (25-1 overall, 13-1 Frontier Conference) has just four games remaining in the regular season, beginning Thursday at Montana Tech.
Providence held steady in the NAIA top 25 at No. 11 behind the recent strong play of Zaccheus Darko-Kelly, who has netted back-to-back NAIA national player of the week honors. The Argos (21-5, 9-5) host Montana Western on Friday and Rocky Mountain College on Saturday.
Carroll College, meanwhile, is ranked 19th this week. The votes were tallied before the Saints' Tuesday game at Montana Tech, a 74-66 loss that dropped them to 19-8 overall and 10-5 in Frontier Conference play.
No other Frontier teams were ranked or received votes in the poll, which is still topped by reigning national champion Georgetown (Ky.). Mid-America Christian (Okla.) is second, while Westmont (Calif.) is fourth and Dalton State (Ga.) is fifth. The complete poll is below.
2019-20 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 5 (February 19, 2020)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Georgetown (Ky.) [6] | 24-1 | 217 |
| 2 | 2 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) [2] | 25-1 | 213 |
| 3 | 5 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) [1] | 25-1 | 204 |
| 4 | 4 | Westmont (Calif.) | 25-2 | 199 |
| 5 | 3 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 24-2 | 190 |
| 6 | 6 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 23-3 | 185 |
| 7 | 7 | William Penn (Iowa) | 22-3 | 176 |
| 8 | 8 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 23-4 | 169 |
| 9 | 9 | John Brown (Ark.) | 23-3 | 163 |
| 10 | 10 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 22-3 | 160 |
| 11 | 11 | Providence (Mont.) | 21-5 | 141 |
| 12 | 18 | Tougaloo (Miss.) | 21-4 | 140 |
| 13 | 15 | SAGU (Texas) | 20-4 | 134 |
| 14 | 13 | Xavier (La.) | 20-5 | 121 |
| 15 | 13 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 20-6 | 119 |
| 16 | 12 | The Master's (Calif.) | 20-6 | 104 |
| 17 | RV | Arizona Christian | 20-6 | 102 |
| 18 | RV | Thomas More (Ky.) | 20-6 | 92 |
| 19 | 17 | Carroll (Mont.) | 19-7 | 89 |
| 20 | RV | Menlo (Calif.) | 16-7 | 82 |
| 21 | 19 | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 18-6 | 77 |
| 22 | 16 | Loyola (La.) | 18-7 | 76 |
| T23 | 20 | Texas Wesleyan | 18-7 | 64 |
| T23 | 24 | Clarke (Iowa) | 20-7 | 64 |
| 25 | 22 | Talladega (Ala.) | 21-5 | 61 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Shawnee State (Ohio), William Carey (Miss.), William Jessup (Calif.)
Others Receiving Votes: Shawnee State (Ohio) 48, William Carey (Miss.) 34, Park (Mo.) 28, Pikeville (Ky.) 25, Dillard (La.) 3, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 3, William Jessup (Calif.) 3.
