Tommie Sports - Men's Basketball
Men's Basketball still No. 3 in D3hoops.com poll
February 22, 2010St. Thomas (23-2), riding a 12-game winning streak, remained at No. 3 in this week's top-25 national poll for men's basketball by D3Hoops.com.
Coach Steve Fritz' Tommies have been ranked in the top 10 nationally for 27 consecutive polls.
There are no unbeaten teams left in D-III and the top four spots remained the same with Washington (Mo.), Williams (Mass.), UST, and Guilford (N.C.). UW-Stevens Point lost this week and dropped to ninth.
Wooster, a team that lost at home to the Tommies 84-53 in November, has won 18 of its last 20 and is ranked No. 20.
Fritz, who coached his 800th varsity game recently, saw his Tommies win their 12th consecutive game -- all in a 36-day stretch -- with Saturday's 80-69 victory at Hamline. UST became just the fourth conference men's team to reach 19 conference wins since the schedule expanded to 20 games in 1984.
The Tommies (23-2 overall, 17-1 MIAC) now have the best record in the last two seasons out of 1,400 four-year men's basketball teams. UST is 53-3 (.946 win %).
The No. 3-ranked Toms has won the program's fifth consecutive MIAC title -- a feat accomplished just twice previously in conference history by Hamline (1931-36) and St. Thomas (1969-1974). It's the 20th MIAC hoops title that Fritz has been associated with as a head coach (15), assistant coach (three) and player (two). Fritz has been on the sideline or court for 1,164 consecutive games.
The Tommies play host to a semifinal game Thursday night in the conference playoffs and appears headed for its seventh NCAA playoff trip in the last 11 seasons.
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