GLENVILLE, W.Va. – The No. 7-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team dominated the second  half here Saturday afternoon and raced away to a 97-69 victory against Glenville State at the Pioneers' Jesse Lilly Gym.

Five Hilltoppers (12-1, 7-0) finished in double figures and Coach Jim Crutchfield's two-time defending West Virginia Conference champions led by as many as 34 points down the stretch in extending their WVIAC-record league winning streak to 47 games.

The Pioneers (1-9, 0-6) were able to keep things interesting through the first half as West Liberty battled foul trouble and held just a 45-37 lead at intermission.

The foul problems continued over the final 20 minutes but the Hilltopper struggles didn't as West Liberty scored 10 of the second half's first 12 points and never looked back.

Freshman standout C.J. Hester posted his second consecutive double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Morrow added 19 points and 8 boards despite battling foul problems for much of the second half.

Steady senior Alex Falk flirted with a rare triple-double, scoring 16 points while grabbing 9 rebounds and handing out a career-high 7 assists. Cedric Harris and Shawn Dyer rounded out the Hilltoppers' double-figure scorers with 13 points each.

Kevin Gray scored a game-high 20 points to lead Glenville State. Jamel Morris added a dozen points while Chris Abney chipped in with 10 points and 8 rebounds in a losing cause.

West Liberty will play the first of four consecutive home games on Thursday night when Fairmont State comes to the ASRC for a 7:30 p.m. game.

GAME NOTES

X The No. 7 Hilltoppers could be poised to crack the Top 5 in next week's NCAA Division II Top 25 as No. 1 Metro State (Colo.), No. 2 Southern Indiana and No. 6 Cal Poly-Pomona all suffered their first losses of the season earlier this week

X West Liberty starting guard Tim Hausfeld saw just 9 minutes of playing time before fouling out while Morrow and Falk sat out lengthy stretches of the second half after picking up their fourth personals

X The Hilltoppers have made at least one 3-point field goal in 419 consecutive games, dating back to 1997

X West Liberty leads the nation in scoring and ranks among the Top 10 in 3-point field goals, steals, assists and free throw percentage