BUCKHANNON, WV – The No. 11-ranked West Liberty University men’s basketball team came from behind in the final minute Sunday afternoon to beat hot-shooting West Virginia Wesleyan, 93-90, at the Rockefeller Center.
Cedric Harris gave Coach Jim Crutchfield’s two-time defending West Virginia Conference champion Hilltoppers (8-1, 5-0) a 91-90 lead with a driving layup at the 42-second mark.
That set up the biggest possession of the game and the upset-minded Bobcats (3-3, 2-3) – who shot better than 60 percent from the floor for the game – couldn’t find a quality shot against the aggressive West Liberty defense.
Wesleyan’s Colby Wohlleb wound up barely beating the shot clock with a desperation 25-footer that clanged high off the back iron. Hilltopper junior Alex Falk pulled down the rebound and was fouled with just 6 seconds remaining.
Falk – West Liberty’s lone returning starter from last year’s Atlantic Region championship squad – calmly knocked down both free throws to lock up the Hilltoppers’ 45th consecutive regular-season WVIAC victory.
Momentum swung back and forth throughout a thrilling contest which featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes.
Wesleyan’s Reggie Chambers scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half to help the hosts take a 47-41 lead into the locker room at intermission.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s visitors wasted no time answering the challenge as Falk and long-range shooter Tim Hausfeld sparked a 16-4 Hilltopper run in the first 3 ½ minutes of the second half that gave WLU the largest lead of the second half for either team, 57-51.
The lead changed hands 11 times in the second half alone and the teams were never separated by more than two points over the final four minutes until Falk’s game-clinching free throws.
Harris led four double-figure scorers for West Liberty with 24 points while Hausfeld poured in 23 points – including a 7-of-10 showing from behind the arc. Falk came up big in the second half with 17 of his 21 points coming after intermission while Chris Morrow weighed in with a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Wesleyan’s Raymont McElroy took game scoring honors with 30 points – 24 of them in the second half. Chambers and Kelsey Williams wrapped up the Bobcats’ double-figure scorers with 24 and 23 points, respectively, as the talented trio accounted for 77 of Wesleyan’s 90 points.
West Liberty will wrap up the first semester schedule in Florida next weekend when the Hilltoppers participate in the St. Petersburg Sports Alliance Classic.
Crutchfield’s crew will take on St. Leo (Fla.) Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing out the event with a 2 p.m. Sunday game against Eckerd (Fla.).
GAME NOTES
X Hausfeld is a sizzling 22-for-31 (.710) from behind the 3-point arc in his last four games
X West Liberty’s 45-game WVIAC regular-season win streak is the conference’s longest winning streak since former member Salem-Teikyo won 35 straight from 1996-98
X Crutchfield is now 13-1 against W.Va. Wesleyan since taking the WLU reins prior to the 2004-05 season
X The Hilltoppers hit 13-of-30 3-point attempts on Sunday, extending their streak to 415 consecutive games with a 3-pointer
X West Liberty’s next home game, a Jan. 4 clash with arch rival Wheeling Jesuit, has been changed to a 6 p.m. tipoff to avoid a conflict with that night’s Orange Bowl telecast
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