GAME PHOTOS

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 4-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team topped the century mark again Thursday night, running away to a 101-91 victory against Fairmont State at the ASRC.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (13-1, 8-0) never trailed in rolling to their 11th straight win, using a 13-2 run midway through the second half to break the game open and coasting to the double-digit win against the scrappy Falcons (5-7, 3-5).

Fairmont had pushed West Liberty into overtime in a first-semester meeting and, while the Falcons never led on Thursday, Crutchfield said it was anything but an easy win.

“They're a tough team to pressure,” said the coach. “They have a couple of All-Conference players and a bunch of guys who can make shots and handle the basketball.

“Even though we didn't get a lot of turnovers out of our pressure tonight, we stayed with it and right about the 10-minute mark I thought it started to take its toll.”

Shawn Dyer ignited the decisive run with a second-chance hoop at the 10:36 mark to push West Liberty's lead out to 72-65.

A couple of steals sandwiched around a Fairmont State technical added fuel to the fire before an Alex Falk jumper capped the surge at 8:25 for an 83-67 Hilltopper margin. The visitors never threatened again.

Chris Morrow and Tim Hausfeld led a balanced West Liberty attack with 24 and 23 points, respectively. Falk finished with 18 points while Cedric Harris added 14 points and a season-high 11 assists. C.J. Hester rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.

Isaac Thornton had a game-high 25 points for the Falcons while Steve Custis added 23.

Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor. Fairmont made 34-of-66 (.515) while West Liberty hit 37-of-73 (.507). The Falcons hit 7-of-11 3-pointers while the Hilltoppers were just 6-of-18 from behind the arc. West Liberty also committed 20 turnovers to just 16 for the visitors.

The Hilltoppers did have a decided advantage on the boards, posting a whopping 46-29 edge on the glass. That total included 19 offensive rebounds which resulted in a number of second-chance points.

“I think we've proven over the years that we're not just a 3-point shooting team,” Crutchfield said. “Outside of Timmy Hausfeld (5-of-8), we didn't shoot the three very well tonight but we rebounded well enough to create other opportunities.

“There are a lot of different aspects to the game of basketball. If you do enough of them right, you're going to win.”

The Hilltoppers swing right back into action Saturday afternoon when they host Bluefield State in a 4 p.m. game at the ASRC.