CLIMBING THE LADDER: OKWU men's basketball steps up to No. 4 in latest national rankings
In numerical terms, it was a small gain by the Oklahoma Wesleyan University men’s basketball team.
But, in terms of the big picture, the Eagles made a giant leap upward by landing at No. 4 in this week’s NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll.
The Eagles (22-1) progressed from the No. 5 spot they’ve owned the past two weeks.
With less than a month remaining in the regular season, ranking position becomes critical in terms of seeding for the NAIA regionals, followed by the NAIA finals, slated to be held this year in Kansas City, Mo.
OKWU garnered 508 voting points in this week’s ranking, one of only four teams to receive more than 500.
No. 1-ranked William Penn (Iowa) (19-1) collected 14 first-place votes and 552 voting points.
No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) (17-) came in with three first-place voted and 541 voting points; No. 3 Loyola (La.) (17-1) drew three first-place votes and 525 voting points.
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Rounding the top five was Indiana Wesleyan (19-3) with 485 voting points.
OKWU was not the only Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference to populate the rankings. Bethel (Kan.) (17-4) came in at No. 23 after having been unranked two weeks ago.
One other KCAC team received recognition. Southwestern (Kan.) appeared about in the middle of the “Others Receiving Votes” list.
Starting with this weekend’s road game at Friends (Kan.), OKWU eyes six more regular season games.
They are close to mathematically wrapping up the regular season conference title, which would lock up a spot in NAIA postseason competition for the ninth time in Donnie Bostwick’s nine years as the Eagles’ head coach.
Bostwick also is closing in on 250 career victories at OKWU. He also coached six seasons at Southwestern Assemblies of God (SAGU) in Texas.
The Eagles have scored 75-or-more points in their last 14 games, no counting to wins by forfeits.
The Eagles boast a balanced approach to success.
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The top four leading scorers are Brandon Bird (11.8 ppg), Jaden Lietzke (11.7 ppg), Kaleb Stokes (10.5 ppg) and Dylan Phillip (10.1 ppg).
Lense Ramey and Derrick Talton Jr. are next at 7.8 ppg and 7.2 ppg, respectively.
As a team, OKWU scores 83.7 points per game.
OKWU averages hitting nine three-pointers per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field as a team.
Opponents are shooting just 37.9 percent from the field and averaging only 60.2 ppg.
Valentine Van Putten leads the teams in rebounding (6.2 rpg), followed by Lietzke (6.1 rpg) and Stokes (4.2 rpg).
Talton and Taylen Miller are handing out 3.4 and 3.1 assists per game, respectively.
Talton also leads in steals (2.2 spg).
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles land at No. 4 in Top 25 hoops poll
