Men's Basketball | 1/22/2011 6:39:48 PM

BOX SCORE

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – No. 1 West Liberty came out with all guns blazing here Saturday to put West Virginia Wesleyan on ice well before halftime in a 122-86 rout before a near-sellout crowd at the Bobcats' Rockefeller Arena.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's unbeaten Hilltoppers (15-0, 11-0) scored 14 of the game's first 16 points and led by as many as 42 points in the first half before coasting to their second win of the season against Wesleyan (8-6, 4-6).

West Liberty had outraced the Bobcats, 130-103, in a Dec. 18 meeting at the ASRC.

Jordan Fortney hit 7 3-pointers to lead the Hilltoppers with 21 points while Chris Morrow came off the bench to score 19 points – all in the first half.

Barry Shetzer became the 38th member of West Liberty's 1,000-point club as his 18 points put the 6-4 senior at 1,017 for his career.

Corey Pelle also hit double-figures with 14 points while handing out 5 assists to move into a tie with Dan Binggeli for No. 1 all-time at WLU with 530 career assists.

Alex Falk added 13 points while Tim Hausfeld dropped in 10 points, including an 8-for-8 showing from the charity stripe.

The Hilltoppers eliminated all suspense within minutes of the opening tap, jumping out to a 12-2 lead less than 5 minutes into the game and pushing the margin to 26-7 on a Fortney 3-pointer at the 10:40 mark.

The lead hit 31 points, 51-20, on a pair of Morrow free throws at 6:32 and another Fortney bomb expanded the gap to 42 points, 71-29, with 1:21 still showing on the first half clock.

Much of the day was spent at the foul line as the teams combined for 51 personal fouls and 82 free throws. The Hilltoppers connected on 30-of-37 from the stripe while Wesleyan made 26-of-45.

Marquis Weddle led the Bobcats with 21 points while T.J. Thompson added 15 off the bench.

West Liberty returns home for the first time in two weeks on Monday when the Hilltoppers host Davis & Elkins. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC.