WEST LIBERTY, WV – The No. 4-ranked West Liberty University men’s basketball team exploded for a season-high 139 points Saturday afternoon in routing Bluefield State, 139-74, at the ASRC.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers (14-1, 9-0) placed eight players in double figures and shot better than 60 percent from the floor in the second half in winning their 12th straight game.
“The thing that really stood out to me today was how well we shared the basketball,” Crutchfield said. “Even though we had pretty good control of the game, the guys kept playing hard and making the extra pass which created a lot of really good looks for us.”
West Liberty needed less than 5 minutes to push out to a double-digit lead over the outgunned Big Blues (1-11, 0-9) and never looked back in sprinting off to a 71-43 halftime advantage.
The Hilltoppers struggled from the perimeter in the early going, making just 3-of-14 shots from behind the 3-point arc in the first half.
The hosts found the range in the second 20 minutes, hitting 9-of-15 second-half 3-pointers to turn the romp into a rout.
Freshman C.J. Hester led West Liberty with a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season while junior Alex Falk – West Liberty’s only returning starter – weighed in with 23 points.
Nick Brown came off the bench with 17 points and Cedric Harris added 15 points to go along with a game-high 9 assists. Chris Morrow had his fourth double-double of the year – 14 points and 10 rebounds – while Keene Cockburn (13 points), Mike Lopez (12 points) and Shawn Dyer (10 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers.
Johnny Uhegwu led Bluefield State with 22 points while Roy Cooper added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“This was a good game for us,” Crutchfield said. “We were able to get everybody a lot of playing time and when the second unit came in, they just picked up where the other guys had left off and extended the lead.
“We’ve had some injury problems this year but for the most part we’ve had guys step up and answer the bell for us like they did tonight. That’s really going to be important for us as we get into the conference grind.”
The Hilltoppers host Seton Hill Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
GAME NOTES
X West Liberty’s Tim Hausfeld, the nation’s leading 3-point shooter, left the game in the first half with a leg injury and was held out of the second half for precautionary reasons
X The 139 points are the most scored by a Hilltopper team since last season’s Atlantic Region championship squad rolled to a 149-93 victory at Concord on Nov. 20, 2010
X West Liberty pushed its nation’s-best season scoring average back over the century mark at 100.6 ppg.
X The Hilltoppers also extended their WVIAC-record league winning streak to 49 games
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