WAYNE, N.J. – The William Paterson men's (25-2, 12-1 NJAC) and women's (25-2, 12-1 NJAC) basketball teams stayed in the top 10 of the Division III national rankings March 2, as the Pioneer men moved up three spots to seventh in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, and the Pioneer women slipped from eighth to 10th in the USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball Coaches Association and ninth in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Polls.

William Paterson is one of four Division III schools to currently have both of its basketball programs rated among the top 25 in the country by D3hoops.com, and one of two to have both squads ranked in the top 10 (Washington Univ., No. 1 Men, No. 6 Women; Carthage, No. 14 Men, No. 14 Women; UW-Stevens Point, No. 5 Men, No. 23 Women).

The Pioneer men won the 2010 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament with a 70-58 win against Richard Stockton Feb. 27. William Paterson will host first- and second-round games of the 2010 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament Friday and Saturday, March 5-6, at the Rec Center. The Pioneers will face Albertus Magnus (22-6) at 8:00 p.m., and DeSales (22-5) will take on MIT (22-4) at 6:00 p.m., in first-round contests the evening of March 5, with the winners advancing to play March 6 at 7:00 p.m.

The Pioneer women were the runners-up in the 2010 NJAC Tournament, dropping a hard-fought 70-62 championship-game decision at No. 2/2 Kean Feb. 27. William Paterson will face Mary Washington (21-5) in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Division III Tournament Friday, March 5, at the University of Rochester at 6:00 p.m. In the other first-round contest, the Yellow Jackets (19-6) will take on SUNY Cortland (25-3) at 8:00 p.m. The winners will advance to play in the second round Saturday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. at the U of R.

D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll (March 2)
Rank Institution - First Place Votes Record Points Previous Ranking
1 Washington U. (14) 23-2 610 1
2 Williams (11) 26-1 609 2
3 Guilford 26-2 569 4
4 Whitworth 25-2 522 5
5 UW-Stevens Point 23-4 496 9
6 St. Thomas 23-3 486 3
7 William Paterson 25-2 467 10
8 UW-Whitewater 22-5 435 8
9 Middlebury 24-3 425 6
10 Eastern Mennonite 22-4 389 7
11 Virginia Wesleyan 22-5 355 11
12 Chapman 23-2 339 12
13 St. Mary's (Md.) 24-3 311 14
14 Carthage 22-5 276 16
15 St. Norbert 22-3 255 17
16 Randolph-Macon 22-6 230 18
17 Wooster 23-5 221 19
18 Franklin and Marshall 23-4 213 20
19 Texas-Dallas 23-5 188 15
20 Cabrini 25-2 176 21
21 MIT 22-4 157 13
22 Central 23-4 93 25
23 Merchant Marine 23-4 44 —
24 Anderson 22-5 42 23
25 St. John Fisher 22-5 41 22 

USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division III Poll (March 2)
Rank Institution - First Place Votes Previous Ranking Record Points
1 Amherst College (Mass.) - 7 1 27-0 175
2 Kean University (N.J.) 2 26-1 162
3 Illinois Wesleyan University 3 26-1 159
4 Hope College (Mich.) 4 27-1 157
5 George Fox University (Ore.) 5 25-2 152
6 Washington University (Mo.) 6 23-2 139
7 Marymount University (Va.) 7 26-1 132
8 Christopher Newport University (Va.) 9 28-0 122
9 Moravian College (Pa.) 10 25-2 118
10 William Paterson University (N.J.) 8 25-2 112
11 DePauw University (Ind.) 14 25-3 101
12 Calvin College (Mich.) 11 24-4 96
13 Thomas More College (Ky.) 16 25-3 87
14 Louisiana College (La.) 15 24-2 83
15 University of Puget Sound (Wash.) 13 23-4 78
16 Carthage College (Wis.) 12 22-4 72
17 Messiah College (Pa.) 21 23-4 64
18 University of Scranton (Pa.) T17 22-5 48
19 Mount Union College (Ohio) 25 24-4 40
20 Colby College (Maine) 22 23-4 39
21 Tufts University (Mass.) 23 20-5 30
22 Lebanon Valley College (Pa.) T19 23-4 27
23 University of Chicago (Ill.) T19 19-6 21
24 Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.) T17 23-4 17
25 State University of NY at Farmingdale NR 25-1 16 

D3hoops.com Women's Basketball Poll (March 2)
Rank Institution - First Place Votes Record Points Previous Ranking
1 Amherst (21) 27-0 617 1
2 Kean (3) 26-1 595 2
3 Illinois Wesleyan (1) 26-1 571 3
4 Hope 27-1 554 4
5 George Fox 25-2 516 5
6 Washington U. 23-2 502 6
7 Marymount 26-1 471 7
8 Moravian 25-2 442 9
9 William Paterson 25-2 416 8
10 Christopher Newport 28-0 400 12
11 DePauw 25-3 337 14
12 Calvin 24-4 321 11
13 Thomas More 25-3 306 16
14 Carthage 22-4 289 10
15 Puget Sound 23-4 275 13
16 Louisiana College 24-2 264 17
17 Messiah 23-4 221 20
18 Scranton 22-5 166 15
19 Lebanon Valley 23-4 108 19
20 Colby 23-4 99 23
21 Farmingdale State 25-1 91 —
22 Chicago 19-6 86 21
23 UW-Stevens Point 21-6 73 —
24 Washington and Jefferson 23-4 65 18
25 St. Norbert 22-3 57 —