BELTON (February 28, 2012) -- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball team fell five spots in the nation after losing in the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals last week as the Cru dropped to tenth in the country in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll. The UMHB men totaled 375 points to fall from last week’s #5 national ranking. Hope College is #1 again this week with 21 first-place votes and 620 total points. Whitworth University, who will be part of the four-team NCAA Division III Regional Tournament hosted by UMHB this weekend, is ranked seventh in the country this week with 465 total points. The Cru is the only American Southwest Conference program mentioned in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

The Cru is currently 25-2 overall and will advance to the NCAA Division III National Championships for the fifth time in the last six seasons. UMHB will host a four-team Regional Tournament this weekend and will face Trinity University in a 7:30 PM First Round game on Friday at the Mayborn Campus Center. Whitworth and McMurry will face off in the tournament’s opening game at 5:30 PM. The two first-round winners will then meet at 7:00 PM Saturday with a berth in the NCAA Sectional Tournament on the line.

The D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the country. The UMHB men have been ranked in every D3hoops.com poll this season.