Men's Basketball Enters NCAA Tournament No. 9 In Latest D3hoops Top 25 Rankings
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball program climbed back into the top 10, moving up to No. 9 in the D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Week 12 Poll, announced Monday by site officials.
The Blue Jays are fresh off their second straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship, defeating Albertus Magnus 94-67. It was part of a string of postseason dominance for Saint Joseph, which won all three of its GNAC Tournament games by 25+ points, including the first two by 50+. USJ is headed to WPI for the NCAA Division III Tournament, where the team will play Penn St.-Harrisburg at 3:50 p.m. on Friday, March 4 in Worcester, Mass.
Saint Joseph is 26-1 overall, and was the last unbeaten D-III team in the nation before suffering its first loss of the season to then #24 Yeshiva, 87-76 in New York on February 17.
USJ sits at No. 9, just behind fellow Connecticut school, Wesleyan University. The top-10 list can be found below:
|
# |
School (No. 1 votes) |
W-L |
Pts. |
Prev. |
|
1 |
Randolph-Macon (25) |
27-1 |
625 |
1 |
|
2 |
25-2 |
594 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
22-3 |
575 |
3 |
|
|
4 |
24-2 |
550 |
4 |
|
|
5 |
21-5 |
454 |
6 |
|
|
6 |
25-2 |
447 |
7 |
|
|
7 |
21-5 |
417 |
5 |
|
|
8 |
24-3 |
411 |
11 |
|
|
9 |
26-1 |
393 |
12 |
|
|
10 |
22-3 |
373 |
13 |
Complete D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll
USJ has had some notable success individually in both the conference and the nation's leaders. Senior forward Jordan Powell is fourth in all of D-III in field goal percentage (70.3%), while senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) is in the top-20 in the nation in assists per game (6.0). Martin shattered the school record and tied an NCAA high this season with 18 assists in one game. His 18 assists are tied for the third-most in a game this season across all three NCAA divisions, including D-I.
From the team side, the Blue Jays are among the nation's leaders in numerous categories, including scoring margin (25.7, 1st), field goal percentage defense (35.3%, 1st), blocks per game (6.1, 2nd), opponent points per game (60.4, tied for 5th), rebound margin (9.9, tied for 6th), and three-point field goal defense (27.4%, 7th).
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
USJ is headed to WPI for the NCAA Division III Tournament, where the team will play Penn St.-Harrisburg at 3:50 p.m. on Friday, March 4 in Worcester, Mass. in the first round. Catch the action live on usjbluejays.com
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