WEST LIBERTY, WVa – The Hilltoppers lived up to their name in the semifinal game of the NCAA D2 Men’s Basketball Championship on their home court: they were on top of the hill. They stayed with their game even when it didn’t seem to work and pulled out a 100–77 victory over the Fairmont State Falcons.
West Liberty didn’t start out the way that they wanted to, shooting just 2-13 from behind the arc in the first half of the game, but they just seemed to outwork Fairmont state during that stretch to stay on top. The Hilltoppers forced eight first half turnovers and they out-rebounded the Falcons 24-19, who stayed in the game with 16 free throw attempts.
The Atlantic Region Player of the Year, Alex Falk, paced the Hilltoppers with 12 points while Tim Hausfeld scored 8.
The Falcons’ top player, Isaac Thornton, didn’t score until a little over halfway through the first half, as Fairmont State was held to just 27 points in the first 20 minutes.
“The one thing our guys are good at is keeping their nose to the grind from start to finish,” Coach Jim Crutchfield said of the team’s slow first half start.
With a second half that went mostly in the Hilltoppers favor, the atmosphere picked up tremendously inside the ARSC. Momentum swings went in each team’s direction followed by hard fouls and missed fouls. West Liberty started playing their game and ran the court fast and hard. They started out the half shooting 2-3 from three point land, sparking the crowd and creating an emotional Hilltoppers team.
Down the stretch, it was all West Liberty. The Hilltoppers proved to be too fast and out-muscled the Falcons in every category.
“We were up 10 on the boards, that means we played hard,” Coach Crutchfield said.
Chris Morrow came alive after being held scoreless in the first half. He finished with 17 points. Falk finished with 21 points and CJ Hester added 15.
“My focus was not on losing my composure but sitting there with my teammates and getting ready to go back in,” Morrow said of his strong second half.
The Toppers held Thornton to just 11 points.
Falk has had the displeasure of guarding Thornton for the past four years. “I think we just played great team basketball and held him down,” Falk said.
West Liberty will advance to take on IUP in the Atlantic Regional Final Tuesday night at the ARSC.
