SAINT LEO, Fla. – The No. 9-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team broke open a close game just before halftime here Saturday afternoon and coasted to an 81-67 victory against Saint Leo in the first game of the St. Petersburg Sports Alliance Classic.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (9-1) battled major foul problems throughout the contest as numerous charging calls blunted West Liberty's attacking offense in the early going and allowed the Lions (5-4) to keep things close for much of the opening half.

Saint Leo took its largest lead of the game, 31-27, on a pair of Trent Thomas free throws after the Hilltopper bench was whistled for a rare technical foul with 4:06 remaining. At that point, 10 personal fouls had been called against West Liberty – including 5 charging calls – while only two personal fouls had been assessed against the host Lions.

That proved to be the last gasp for Saint Leo as the Hilltoppers slammed the door on the defensive end and began to find the range from the perimeter.

Tim Hausfeld's running 3-pointer just ahead of the halftime buzzer capped a 15-3 West Liberty run over the final four minutes of the second half and sent the visitors into the locker room with a 42-34 advantage at the break.

The Lions mounted a brief surge in the early part of the second half, trimming the deficit to 49-44 on a Dominick Robinson hoop at the 13:31 mark but West Liberty freshman C.J. Hester stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer and the Hilltoppers quickly righted the ship.

Another Hausfeld bonus bomb pushed the lead to 57-46 with 11:16 remaining and the Lions never got the margin into single digits again.

Chris Morrow's 16 points paced six double-figure scorers in a balanced Hilltopper attack. Hausfeld finished with 15 points while Shawn Dyer added 14 – 11 of them coming in the second half. Cedric Harris had 13 points, Alex Falk added 11 and Hester finished with 10 before fouling out.

Thomas led Saint Leo with 15 points but failed to dent the scorebook in the second half. Robinson added a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

West Liberty travels to St. Petersburg on Sunday to close out the two-day Classic against host Eckerd, which handed Tuskegee, Ala. an 84-70 setback in Saturday's other tourney tilt.