The Villa Maria College men's basketball program is back on top of the polls.  In the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division II National Coaches Poll, the Vikings regained the top spot, overtaking three-time defending National Champion Berkeley College, who the Vikings will host at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Villa spent the first three polls of the season ranked #1 and the last two ranked second.  They are currently 18-3, 4-0 NIAC. and winners of four straight games.  Most recently, the Vikings took down #20 Penn State Du Bois 104-58 on the road Tuesday night.

Villa – in it's third year of athletics – has been in the polls since the beginning of the 2016-17 season.  Since that time and over the last two seasons, the Vikings have won 36 games.  Villa is led by head coach and New York State Basketball Hall of Fame member Don Silveri, who sits at 630 career victories.  Villa has not lost at home since November 26, 2016 and has won 18 straight games inside the Villa Athletic Center.

Junior guard DeJaun Owens (Buffalo, NY/Tapestry Charter School) leads Villa in scoring, netting 16.9 points per game while fellow junior Dominic Douglas (Bainbridge, GA/Bainbridge High School) is scoring 16.7.  Owens is shooting 45.3 percent from three while Douglas is second on the team in rebounding with more than six per game.

Junior Jay Scarbrough (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls High School) comes off the bench to average 12 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists.  He has blown by the school record for steals in a season as he has 90 thus far.  Freshman Lonnie Taylor (Medina, NY/Medina High School) is averaging 11.4 points and a team best 8.9 rebounds for Villa.

The Vikings have seven players from Western New York and 11 players from New York State.  Silveri is assisted by former Syracuse star and NBA player Damone Brown and local basketball mind Al Parker.

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