KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Northwestern College men’s basketball team (6-0, 0-0 GPAC) picked up three votes in the first installment of the regular season coaches’ poll released by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Wednesday.
The Raiders have started the season on fire winning their first six games of the season, outscoring all opponents 87-72 in those six games, under the direction of head coach Kris Korver.
The Raiders are led by sophomore forward Alex Van Kalsbeek (Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) who is averaging nearly a double-double this season at 24.7 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game.
Senior Trent Hilbrands (Remsen, Iowa/Le Mars Community) is averaging just under 20 points per contest (19.3ppg). He has been a major threat from behind the arc, shooting a red shot 42% from 3-point range (21-of-50).
Four Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) teams are either receiving votes or ranked in this installment of the national rankings. The Jamestown Jimmies moved up nine spots to crack the top-10 at No. 10. The Morningside Mustangs fell ten spots to No. 22 after losing to Olivet Nazarene. Concordia (Neb.) joins Northwestern in receiving votes this week after a solid 5-0 start in non-conference play, before dropping their GPAC opener to Briar Cliff, 65-48.
The Raiders begin GPAC play this Saturday inside the Bultman Center against the Tigers of Doane University (6-2, 1-0 GPAC), following the conclusions of the 2021 NAIA Volleyball Opening Round match and the women’s basketball game. Tip-off is tentatively scheduled for 8:15 p.m.
2021-22 NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll One (November 17, 2021)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Saint Francis (Ind.) [18] | 8-0 | 589 |
| 2 | 5 | Loyola (La.) [2] | 4-0 | 560 |
| 3 | 4 | William Penn (Iowa) [1] | 5-0 | 555 |
| 4 | 7 | Arizona Christian | 5-0 | 519 |
| 5 | 10 | Carroll (Mont.) | 7-0 | 510 |
| 6 | 1 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 4-1 | 489 |
| 7 | 11 | Talladega (Ala.) | 6-0 | 474 |
| 8 | 9 | Indiana Wesleyan | 5-1 | 433 |
| 9 | 3 | SAGU (Texas) | 3-1 | 430 |
| 10 | 19 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 6-0 | 402 |
| 11 | 14 | Marian (Ind.) | 4-0 | 385 |
| 12 | 8 | Bethel (Kan.) | 4-1 | 377 |
| 12 | 15 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 3-0 | 377 |
| 14 | 16 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 6-0 | 355 |
| 15 | 17 | Stillman (Ala.) | 4-0 | 292 |
| 16 | 21 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 4-0 | 250 |
| 17 | 22 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 3-0 | 242 |
| 18 | 24 | College of Idaho | 3-1 | 229 |
| 19 | 20 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 5-0 | 222 |
| 20 | 6 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 2-2 | 220 |
| 21 | RV | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 6-1 | 209 |
| 22 | 12 | Morningside (Iowa) | 3-1 | 196 |
| 23 | RV | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 5-1 | 174 |
| 24 | 18 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 5-1 | 164 |
| 25 | NR | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 6-1 | 127 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Thomas More (Ky.), IU South Bend (Ind.), Oregon Tech
Others Receiving Votes: William Jessup (Calif.) 100, Thomas More (Ky.) 80, LSU Alexandria (La.) 66, Grace (Ind.) 58, IU South Bend (Ind.) 42, Xavier (La.) 42, Union (Ky.) 22, Ottawa (Kan.) 22, Concordia (Neb.) 22, Faulkner (Ala.) 13, Park (Mo.) 10, Florida College 5, Southeastern (Fla.) 5, Antelope Valley (Calif.) 3, Northwestern (Iowa) 3, Menlo (Calif.) 3.
