Men's Basketball | 11/30/2010 9:26:13 PM

BOX SCORE   GAME PHOTOS
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 7-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team passed another early-season test with flying colors Tuesday night.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's unbeaten Hilltoppers bolted out to a 20-point halftime lead and never looked back in thrashing Fairmont State, 108-71, before a near-capacity crowd at the ASRC.

It was the sixth time West Liberty (6-0, 3-0) had topped the century mark in as many games this season with every one of those wins coming by more than 35 points.

“I thought we played hard tonight and I thought we played well,” Crutchfield said. “Fairmont has just about everybody back from a team that went to the NCAA Tournament last year. That's a very good basketball team that's going to win a lot of games before this season is over.”

Nevertheless, it was apparent early on that Tuesday's game would not be entering the win column for the Falcons (1-1, 1-1).

After Fairmont took its only lead, 7-6, on a Steve Custis jumper at 18:09, the Hilltoppers scored 12 of the next 14 points to take control.

Chris Morrow got things started with a rebound basket and conventional 3-point play. A Tim Hausfeld steal followed by a Corey Pelle follow shot and a Barry Shetzer 3-pointer put the hosts on top, 18-9, at 15:19 and the rout was on.

West Liberty forced the Falcons into 15 first-half turnovers in stretching out to a 56-36 lead at intermission and led by as many as 40 points in the second half before settling for the final 37-point margin.

“There was a stretch in the first half where we missed a lot of 3s,” Crutchfield said, “but it really didn't change anything. Our guys have made so many that, as long as we keep working to get good looks, they know the shots will eventually fall.

“We were still able to force the tempo by creating some turnovers. Then, once the shots started dropping, it helped us open things up.”

Senior guard Corey Pelle turned in another highlight reel performance with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals – all game-highs.

Morrow added a career-high 19 points off the bench while Shetzer finished with 18 markers. Hausfeld tossed in a dozen points and John Wolosinczuk also had 12 points – including the 200th 3-pointer of his career – before fouling out in the second half.

“Corey is one of the most gifted natural athletes I've seen play in the conference,” Crutchfield said. “He's just able to do so many things on the floor. Barry hit some big shots for us and Chris Morrow may be one of the most improved players in the league. We got contributions from a lot of people tonight and that's when we're at our best.”

Terrence Green's 18 points led Fairmont with Isaac Thornton adding 15 and Custis finishing with 13.

The Hilltoppers don't have the luxury of savoring Tuesday's win for an extended period of time as Charleston is scheduled to invade the ASRC on Thursday night.

“Charleston's loaded up with some Division I transfers and they've had a whole week to get ready for us,” Crutchfield said, noting that the Golden Eagles had been idle on Tuesday night. “They know this is a huge game for them and our guys know it's a huge game for us. We'll definitely be tested.”

Thursday night's tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.