BAYAMON, P.R. – No. 1 West Liberty put another big number on the scoreboard here Tuesday night, wrapping up its two-day stay in Puerto Rico with a 124-95 rout of Puerto Rico-Bayamon on the Vaqueros’ home boards.
Victor Caratini gave UPR-Bayamon (1-9) an early 2-1 lead with a short jumper on the hosts’ first possession but the Hilltoppers (10-0) answered with 14 straight points to take a 15-2 lead before the game was three minutes old and the margin never dropped below double figures the rest of the way.
West Liberty had built a 22-point lead, 35-13, by the midway point of the opening period and coasted into halftime with a 66-45 advantage.
The Vaqueros mounted a brief surge midway through the second half, cutting the gap to 87-73 on a Jonathan Roman 3-pointer as the clock ticked past 11 minutes, but that’s when the Hilltoppers slammed the door.
Three-point bombs from Chris Morrow, Alex Falk and Tim Hausfeld highlighted a 22-3 blitz that produced the largest lead of the night, 109-76, and West Liberty coasted to its 10th win in as many outings.
Falk led all scorers with 24 points but the senior All-American had plenty of help. Cedric Harris added 21 points and 5 assists while Morrow finished with 19 points. Hausfeld and C.J. Hester weighed in with 16 points each as all 11 Hilltoppers cracked the scoring column for the second consecutive night.
West Liberty blistered the nets at a 57 percent clip, draining 42-of-74 shots from the floor, and forced UPR-Bayamon into 27 turnovers.
Victor Caratini topped the hosts with 23 points before being carried off the court after a late-game injury. Carlos Ramos and Hector Garcia added 16 points each in a losing cause.
The Black and Gold will head home to enjoy the holiday break with their families before returning to the hardwood on Jan. 3 with a 7:30 p.m. game at Davis & Elkins.
GAME NOTES
x The Hilltoppers were coming off a 143-77 blowout of UPR-Mayaguez on Monday afternoon
x Falk vaulted into the Top 20 on West Liberty’s all-time scoring list with 1,477 points
x Falk passed Bob McNabb (1,454), Eli Mumley (1,475) and Ty Crawmer (1,475) to rank 18th among the Hilltoppers’ career scoring leaders
x West Liberty has shot better than 50 percent from the floor in 9 of its 10 games this season
x The Hilltoppers have a 127-5 (.962) record under Crutchfield when making more than half of their shots during a game
x Unbeaten and No. 22-ranked Tampa escaped with a 69-67 win at UPR-Bayamon on Sunday. West Liberty led the Vaqueros by a 66-45 margin at halftime Tuesday night
x Bayamon head coach Carlos Calcano coached the Puerto Rican National Team to a 6th-place finish in the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championships at Auckland, N.Z.
