Men's Basketball | 11/13/2011 8:50:00 PM
Box Score BOX SCORE
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The No. 6-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team's full-court pressing defense overwhelmed host Shippensburg from the opening tip on Sunday and the Hilltoppers ran away to a 101-72 victory in the final game of the Wolf's Bus Lines Classic at Heiges Fieldhouse.
West Liberty (2-0) forced the Red Raiders (0-2) into a staggering 34 turnovers and put five players in double-figures in rolling to its 48th consecutive regular-season win.
After being taken to the wire in a 96-92 victory against East Stroudsburg in Saturday's season opener, Coach
Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers never trailed on Sunday.
Despite struggling with its perimeter shooting in the early going, West Liberty led by as many as 14 points in the opening half before settling for a 42-33 advantage at intermission.
The Hilltoppers shot 55 percent from the floor and drained 8 of their 11 3-pointers in the second half to turn the game into a blowout.
West Liberty pushed the lead to 20 points, 64-44, on a driving layup by
Cedric Harris with 14:20 remaining and the margin never dropped below 18 points the rest of the way.
The visitors hit 36-of-80 shots from the floor and went 18-for-24 from the foul line while being charted with 20 steals.
Shippensburg made more than half of its shots – 26-of-51 – but the Raiders were just 4-of-14 from the 3-point arc and misfired on 17 of their 33 free throws.
Nick Brown led the way for the Hilltoppers with 20 points and 9 rebounds while Harris weighed in with 14 points and a game-high 8 assists.
Harris and junior guard
Alex Falk – who had a team-high 27 points and 9 rebounds in Saturday's victory against East Stroudsburg – were named to the Wolf Bus Lines Classic All-Tournament Team.
Dane Lauber led five double-figure scorers for the Red Raiders with 13 points.
Sunday's win sets up a Top 10 showdown on Thursday night at the ASRC as the No. 6 Hilltoppers host No. 7-ranked Findlay (Ohio). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
