ATHENS, W.Va. – No. 1-ranked West Liberty overcame serious foul trouble with a strong second half here Saturday afternoon and pulled away to a 101-81 victory against Concord at the Mountain Lions’ Carter Center.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers (16-1, 10-1) led by as many as 12 points midway through the opening half only to see Concord (9-5, 5-5) rally when WLU veterans Alex Falk, Cedric Harris and Chris Morrow were each forced to the bench with three personal fouls.
The Mountain Lions took advantage of their absence by closing out the half on a 15-4 run. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Thomas Brown sent the hosts into the locker room with a 45-42 lead as West Liberty was whistled for 16 fouls in the first 20 minutes.
Mike Boyd pushed the lead to 47-42 on the first possession of the second half with – what else – a pair of free throws but that’s when the Hilltopper vets turned the tide.
Falk – who had been held scoreless in limited playing time during the first half – and Morrow hit consecutive 3-pointers to put West Liberty back on top, 48-47. Harris followed with a driving layup and Falk pushed home a rebound basket to close out a 10-0 blitz for a 52-47 WLU lead with 17:01 remaining.
Concord battled back to force one more tie, 54-54, on a Damien Tunstalle layup at 15:11 but a Falk free throw put the visitors ahead to stay less than 10 seconds later.
Shawn Dyer went coast-to-coast for a layup after coming up with a steal at the other end and Falk cashed in a conventional 3-point play for a 60-54 Hilltopper bulge with 14:08 on the clock and the rout was on.
The lead never slipped below double-figures in the final 8 minutes and West Liberty led by as many as 22 points down the stretch.
Falk led the Hilltoppers with 22 points – all in the second half – while C.J. Hester notched a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Harris tossed in 17 points and handed out 6 assists before fouling out while Shawn Dyer weighed in with 14 points and Tim Hausfeld contributed 10 points and 5 assists in the victory.
Brown led all scorers with a career-high 28 points for the Mountain Lions but Tunstalle was Concord’s only other double-figure scorer with 15 points.
West Liberty doesn’t play again until Jan. 26 when the Hilltoppers make the short trip down Route 88 to take on Wheeling Jesuit in a 4 p.m. tilt.
GAME NOTES
X This was West Liberty’s seventh straight win against Concord, giving WLU a 29-28 lead in the all-time series
X The Hilltoppers have broken the century mark in each of their last six games against the Mountain Lions
X Falk passed Rich Saffield (1,572 points) for the No. 12 spot on West Liberty’s career scoring list with 1,589 points. Current Hilltopper assistant Ben Howlett is No. 11 with 1,663
X West Liberty improved to 70-2 (.972) in its last 72 West Virginia Conference games
