BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – West Liberty University junior sharpshooter Seger Bonifant has been honored as the first Mountain East Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the 2014-15 season.
Bonifant, a 6-7 wing from Berlin, Ohio, poured in 63 points and drained 16 3-pointers in leading the No. 1-ranked Hilltoppers to a pair of double-digit wins in the inaugural Charles and Lavoo Crutchfield Classic.
The long-range bomber, who leads all active NCAA Division II players in career 3-point field goal percentage (158-of-278, .568), debuted with a career-high 31 points in West Liberty’s 105-61 rout of St. Augustine’s (N.C.). That performance was highlighted by a dazzling 8-of-9 shooting from the 3-point line, also a career single-game high.
Bonifant followed that up with an encore performance on Sunday, setting another career-high with 32 points as the Hilltoppers rolled to a 101-89 victory against Fayetteville State (N.C.). The WLU standout knocked down 8-of-13 long-range attempts to finish the weekend a staggering 16-of-22 (73 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
The Hilltoppers, who have won 8 of the last 9 national scoring titles, put their No. 1 national ranking on the lineThursday night when they host another high-scoring squad in Salem International.
The Tigers finished third in the nation in scoring a year ago at better than 90 points per game and ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II in steals. Tipoff between the former West Virginia Conference rivals is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC
