Men's Basketball Ninth In Latest D3hoops.com National Rankings
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – For the third consecutive week, the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball program slipped one spot in the national rankings, and now sit at No. 9 in the land following the release of the D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Week 7 Top 25 Poll, announced Monday night by site officials. USJ was previously ranked as high as fifth; a school-record ranking for any USJ team, and the highest men's basketball ranking for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) team in the history of the D3hoops.com national rankings (since 1999-00).
The Blue Jays remain the only unbeaten men's basketball team in Division III boasting a spotless 13-0 mark on the 2021-22 season, despite dropping down another spot in the national rankings. USJ went 3-0 this past week with a trio of Great Northeast Athletic Conference road victories to improve to 8-0 in GNAC play. Randolph-Macon (14-1) remained the top-ranked team in the country for the fourth straight week and received 24 of a possible 25 first-place votes. Christopher Newport (17-2), received the other first-place vote in this week's poll and flip-flopped ahead of the Blue Jays, moving up from No. 9 to No. 8. Christopher Newport, who also went 3-0 last week, narrowly edged USJ in poll points, 443-440, to takeover the No. 8 spot.
The top-10 list can be found below:
|
# |
School (No. 1 votes) |
W-L |
Pts. |
Prev. |
|
1 |
Randolph-Macon (24) |
14-1 |
623 |
1 |
|
2 |
14-2 |
577 |
3 |
|
|
3 |
14-1 |
566 |
4 |
|
|
4 |
15-2 |
542 |
5 |
|
|
5 |
17-1 |
526 |
2 |
|
|
6 |
14-2 |
490 |
6 |
|
|
7 |
14-1 |
447 |
7 |
|
|
8 |
17-2 |
443 |
9 |
|
|
9 |
13-0 |
440 |
8 |
|
|
10 |
15-2 |
423 |
10 |
Complete D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll
USJ has won 15 straight games dating back to the end of the 2020-21 abbreviated season, the longest active winning streak in D-III Men's Basketball, while Christopher Newport is right behind them riding a 14-game streak. The Blue Jays also hold a 22-game conference win streak, the second-longest such active streak in the nation (Yeshiva 29).
In addition to being the only unbeaten team left, USJ has had some success individually as well among the nation's statistical leaders. Senior forward Jordan Powell leads all of Division III in field-goal percentage (75.5%), while senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) is in the top-20 in the nation in assists per game (6.3). Martin shattered the school record and tied an NCAA high this season with 18 assists in one game. His 18 assists are the third-most in a game this season across all three NCAA divisions, including Division I.
From the team side, the Blue Jays are among the nation's leaders in numerous categories, including scoring margin (27.9, 1st), field-goal percentage defense (34.6%, 1st), three-point field-goal defense (24.7%, 1st), blocks per game (6.2, 2nd), rebound margin (11.8, 6th), and opponent points per game (59.8, 8th).
The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors, and media members from across the country and is published weekly. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. basis.
UP NEXT
The Blue Jays continue their critical five-game GNAC road trip with a visit next to the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University on Wednesday, January 26 at 7:30 p.m. Fans can head to www.usjbluejays.com to follow all the action.
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