WEST LIBERTY, WV – The No. 7-ranked West Liberty University men’s basketball team scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back Wednesday night in running away to a 93-72 victory against Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit at the ASRC.
It was the ninth straight win for Coach Jim Crutchfield’s two-time defending West Virginia Conference champion Hilltoppers (11-1, 6-0) and their 46th consecutive league triumph, dating back to the 2009-10 season.
“This was a good solid win for us against a very talented and experienced Wheeling Jesuit team,” Crutchfield said. “We didn’t have a lot of big scoring runs but I thought we were very consistent at both ends of the floor and I like that.”
West Liberty, which leads the nation in scoring, took control from the opening tap. The Hilltoppers needed less than 2 minutes to grab an 8-0 lead, forcing the Cardinals (7-5, 4-3) into a timeout with 18:08 still to play in the first half.
The scrappy visitors trimmed the margin to a single point, 20-19, on a Ben Siefert 3-pointer at the 13:11 mark but Shawn Dyer and Mark Shadowens came off the bench for Crutchfield to fuel a 14-4 WLU run that produced the game’s first double-digit lead, 34-23, with 8:49 on the clock.
West Liberty carried a 49-36 advantage into the locker room at halftime and Wheeling Jesuit never got the margin under double-figures the rest of the way.
“I thought Mark and Shawn gave us a really nice spark in the first half,” Crutchfield said, “but I think all of our guys played well tonight. We got after it on the boards, played some pretty good half-court defense and shared the basketball. This was a really good team effort.”
Alex Falk led the way with 21 points and 8 rebounds while Tim Hausfeld drained 5 3-pointers and finished with 19 points. C.J. Hester delivered a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Cedric Harris stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Marquis Moore paced the Cardinals with a game-high 24 points – on 11-of-12 shooting from the floor – and 11 rebounds.
The Hilltoppers go back on the road Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Glenville State.
GAME NOTES
X West Liberty holds a 77-63 lead over Wheeling Jesuit in the all-time series between the Ohio County rivals. This was the Hilltoppers’ 14th win in the last 15 meetings
X Crutchfield has faced WJU more than any other opponent and has an 18-5 (.783) record against the Cardinals
X West Liberty has made at least one 3-point field goal in 418 consecutive games, dating back to 1997
X The Hilltoppers lead the nation in scoring and rank among the Top 10 in 3-point field goals, steals, assists and free throw percentage
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