COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Chaparrals of Midland College (Texas) sit atop the current NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball rankings, released today (Feb. 9). Midland has now been No. 1 in the poll for nine consecutive weeks. The Chaps also again received all possible 320 poll points and all 16 first place votes.
Harcum College (Pa.), Northwest Florida State College, Howard College (Texas) and Connors State College (Okla.) round out the top five.
Midland picked up a big Region 5 win last night to stay undefeated at 25-0. The Chaps edged South Plains College (Texas) 63-61 on the road. The contest was a back-and-forth struggle and featured many lead changes. Midland held a one-point lead with six seconds remaining when Brockeith Pane stepped in front of a pass for a steal and was then fouled. Pane hit one of two free throws and a last second desperation shot by South Plains came up short to end the game and seal Midland's 25th straight win of the season. Pane led the Chaps with 16 points..
The Chaps also defeated Frank Phillips College (Texas) 91-62 on Feb. 4. Guy Landry and Darrell Williams each had 13 points for Midland in the victory.
Midland, which has won an impressive 12 games against ranked teams, next hosts New Mexico Junior College on Feb. 11.
Harcum moves up to No. 2 this week after being in the No. 3 position for the past two weeks. The Bears were supposed to play Mercer County (N.J.) on Feb. 6, but due to a severe snow storm the game was moved to Feb. 18th. The Bears last played on Jan. 30 when they defeated Essex (N.J.) 111-80 to move to 21-0 on the season.
The 21 consecutive victories for the Bears ties a school record set in 2006-07. Harcum plays at Lackawanna (Pa.) tonight.
Northwest Florida State moves back up into the top three after being in the No. 7 position in last week's rankings. The Raiders pounded then No. 20 Chipola (Fla.) 73-57 on Feb. 3 and also defeated Gulf Coast (Fla.) 80-73 on Feb. 6. The Raiders led the Indians by two at the half and then opened the second half with a 17-7 run to pull away. Sherrard Brantley led the Raiders with 23 points thanks to seven three-pointers. Brian Bryant had 20 points against Chipola and then scored 23 points in the win over Gulf Coast.
The Raiders are now in first place in the current Florida Panhandle Conference standings and will next play at Pensacola (Fla.) on Feb. 10.
NOTES: The last time a team held the No. 1 spot in the DI poll for nine straight weeks was last year when Chipola (Fla.) held the top ranking for nine consecutive weeks...Prior to this season, Midland last held the No. 1 ranking in the pre-season poll for 2006-07...Chipola is not ranked in the Top 25 this week for the first time since the Dec. 9, 2003 poll...Also falling out of the rankings this week is Southeastern (Iowa) and Navarro (Texas)...North Platte (Neb.), Alabama Southern and Cape Fear (N.C.) all appear in the Top 25 for the first time this season.
Michael Johnson's JUCO Classic Report contributed to this week's NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Poll.
155
Number of baseball players selected directly from NJCAA colleges in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.
Nine Straight Weeks at No. 1 for Midland 
