KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After suffering its first loss of the season on Saturday, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball squad fell from No. 6 to No. 12 in this week's NABC Division II Coaches Poll, which was released on Wednesday morning.

The Orediggers (8-1, 4-1 RMAC) lost to Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday by a 66-57 final for their first loss of the season. They rebounded on Sunday afternoon to post a 73-65 come-from-behind victory over Chadron State to get back into the win column. 

Last week's No. 6 national ranking was the highest in school history.

Fellow RMAC squad Metro State holds down the top spot for a second-consecutive week The Roadrunners beat Regis in their only contest of the week to hold onto the top spot as teams around the nation wrapped up play Monday evening prior to the break.  CSM and Metro State will meet for the first time this season on Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. in Golden. The last time the two squads met when Metro State was ranked No. 1, CSM defeated the top-ranked Roadrunners by a 74-71 final at Volk Gymnasium in Golden. 

Metro State is followed this week by the same four teams as it was a week ago in Southern Indiana, Lincoln Memorial, Kentucky Wesleyan - all of whom received a first place vote - and Bellarmine.

The Orediggers will return to action on Dec. 30-31 for matchups at New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico, respectively.

Due to the break for NCAA Division II schools, no poll will be conducted next week.  The next poll will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (Dec. 21, 2011)Record Points Pvs
1. Metropolitan State, Colo. (5 first place votes) 10-0 197 1
2. Southern Indiana (1 first place vote) 9-0 189 2
3. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (1 first place vote) 12-0 181 3
4. Kentucky Wesleyan (1 first place vote) 9-0 180 4
5. Bellarmine, Ky. 9-1 169 5
6. Missouri Southern 11-1 160 7
7. West Liberty, W.Va. 10-1 149 9
8. Cal Poly Pomona 6-0 135 11 
9. Fort Hays State, Kan. 9-1 121 15
10. Tarleton State, Texas 9-1 118 12
11. Winona State, Minn. 10-1 116 16
12. Colorado School of Mines 8-1 103 6
13. Northern Kentucky 9-0 98 21
14. Alabama-Huntsville 8-2 88 18
15. Bowie State, Md. 7-1 77 20
16. Humboldt State, Calif. 7-2 70 8
17. Arkansas Tech 8-1 67 24
18. Findlay, Ohio 9-2 61 19
19. Midwestern State, Texas 9-0 60 23
20. Alaska-Anchorage 7-2 38 22
21. Minnesota State-Moorhead 9-0 28 NR
22. Augustana, S.D. 8-2 27 14
23. Indiana, Pa. 7-2 25 1
24. Benedict, S.C. 3-1 24 25
25. Winston-Salem State, N.C. 7-0 20 NR

Others receiving votes: Western Washington 19, Georgia Southwestern 15, Rollins (Fla.) 14, South Carolina Aiken 13, Bentley (Mass.) 8, Southwestern Oklahoma State 8, Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 6, West Georgia 6, Hillsdale (Mich.) 5, Franklin Pierce (N.H.) 4, West Texas A&M 3

Records and previous rankings are through games of Dec. 19, 2011.  The next poll will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 3.