WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The longest regular-season winning streak in the nation came to an end in a jam-packed ASRC Thursday night as No. 6 West Liberty couldn't survive a cold-shooting night and dropped a frustrating 84-80 overtime decision to No. 7 Findlay (Ohio).

“The surprising thing to me is that we could shoot 25-of-82 from the floor and still be in overtime with a chance to win against another Top 25 program,” Hilltopper head coach Jim Crutchfield said. “I thought we actually executed our offense pretty well down the stretch. We got wide-open looks for some of our best shooters and just couldn't get the ball to go down.

“We forced enough turnovers and had enough possessions to win. We just didn't make shots. As simple as it sounds, that's the story of this game.”

West Liberty (2-1) saw two lengthy streaks – a 46-game regular-season winning streak and a 49-game home win streak – go by the boards Thursday night but the Hilltoppers didn't go down without a fight.

The Top 10 showdown between the last two NCAA Division II programs to post undefeated regular seasons featured 9 ties and 17 lead changes with neither team leading by more than 8 points at any juncture.

The Hilltoppers had several chances to win the game in regulation but missed 3-of-4 free throws in the final 91 seconds before Chris Morrow knocked down a pair of charity tosses with a dozen seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 75.

Findlay never made a field goal in overtime but went 6-of-6 from the foul line to take an 81-75 lead with 1:55 to go.

A free throw and a Cedric Harris layup cut the lead to 81-78 with 1:23 remaining and Nick Brown pulled the hosts within a point, 81-80, with a roll to the hoop at the 43-second mark.

Alex Falk blocked a Findlay shot with 20 seconds to go and found Harris streaking ahead of the pack for an apparent run-out layup only to see the Oilers' Jack Smith come out of nowhere to block the shot.

Greg Kahlig grabbed the rebound for Findlay and cashed in two more free throws with 12 seconds left for an 83-80 lead.

Tim Hausfeld went up in a crowd for an attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer which failed to draw iron. Smith grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sinking 1-of-2 free throws to close out the scoring.

Harris led WLU with 21 points while Morrow added 17 markers. Freshman C.J. Hester provided a big lift with 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench while Falk also posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards.

Freshman Jake Heagen came off the bench with 21 points to pace four double-figure scorers for the Oilers.

Findlay made only one shot from the floor in the final four minutes of regulation and the 5-minute overtime period but held the Hilltoppers at bay by hitting 15 straight free throws before Smith's final miss.

West Liberty missed several open shots from the floor and was just 4-of-8 from the charity stripe during that span.

“They're one of the best foul shooting teams in the nation and you saw that tonight,” said Crutchfield, who is replacing four graduated 1,000-point scorers from last year's Final Four team.

“It's a fine line between success and failure at this level. If two of those layups we missed had gone in tonight, we'd be talking about what a great win it was against a quality opponent. We did some good things tonight but we obviously have to be more efficient on offense. That's going to be our focus going forward.”

GAME NOTES

X West Liberty's last regular-season loss also came in overtime, a 117-116 setback at West Virginia State on Dec. 12, 2009

X The Hilltoppers hadn't lost at the ASRC since Fairmont State rallied to an 88-79 victory on Feb. 14, 2008

X Falk and Hester each posted the first double-doubles of their West Liberty careers

X West Liberty tips off the West Virginia Conference portion of its schedule at home with a 4 p.m. Saturday game against Concord