Men's Basketball | 3/10/2012 10:42:00 PM
Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 3-ranked West Liberty University basketball team had its scoring machine firing on all cylinders Saturday night, which proved to be very bad news for East Stroudsburg in an NCAA Division II Atlantic Region quarterfinal at the ASRC.
The top-seeded Hilltoppers (30-2) drained 15 3-pointers and led wire-to-wire in rolling to a 119-82 victory against the No. 8-seeded Warriors (20-12) in a battle between the WVIAC and PSAC Tournament champions.
After locking up its second straight 30-win season, West Liberty will take on No. 4 seed West Virginia Wesleyan (22-8) in Sunday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal. The Bobcats knocked off No. 5 seed Winston-Salem State, N.C., 57-54, in Saturday's late game.
The Black and Gold's winning margin in Saturday's quarterfinal was somewhat surprising as the two teams had battled on fairly even terms in a mutual season opener before WLU pulled out a 96-92 win in a tipoff tournament at Shippensburg but Hilltopper head coach
Jim Crutchfield had a pretty succinct explanation.
“We're a much better basketball team now than we were in November,” Crutchfield said. “I thought we played very well tonight, especially in the first half when our defense helped us generate some quick scores. We played well on offense the entire game. When you see a team with a lot of assists (26) and very few turnovers (8), they're playing good basketball.”
West Liberty quickly opened up a 12-2 lead on a
Cedric Harris jumper as the first-half clock ticked past the 15-minute mark and pushed the count to 26-12 on a deep
Tim Hausfeld 3-pointer at 10:05.
“We did play better today,” Hausfeld said. “I thought we moved the ball really well and once they (East Stroudsburg) got tired, we were trading easy shots for easier shots. Everybody shot the ball well tonight.”
The margin never dropped below double-digits the rest of the night as the Hilltoppers opened up a whopping 64-36 halftime lead. Head coach
Jim Crutchfield began pulling his starters at the 11-minute mark of the second half as the lead grew as high as 39 points down the stretch.
Harris led eight double-figure scorers for the winners with 21 points and 9 assists – both game-highs. One of the conference's premier assist men, Harris complemented his passing game on Saturday by draining 3 of his 4 attempts from behind the 3-point arc.
“When you're surrounded by great shooters, it makes everything easier,” said the sophomore playmaker. “I just do whatever the team needs me to do. All I care about is winning.”
Hausfeld hit 5-of-7 3-point shots to add 15 points while All-Region senior
Alex Falk knocked down 14 and fellow starters
C.J. Hester and
Chris Morrow chimed in with a dozen each.
Keene Cockburn tossed in 13 off the bench while
Shawn Dyer (12) and Mike Lopez (11) also hit double-figures in a reserve role.
Senior Eric Bryan led five double-figure scorers for East Stroudsburg with 15 points.
GAME NOTES
X No. 2 seed Shaw, N.C. (26-3) and No. 6 seed Wheeling Jesuit (22-9) will play in the 5 p.m. semifinal. The Cardinals upset No. 17-ranked Charleston, 79-76, in Saturday's opener while the No. 7-ranked Bears eliminated No. 10 Indiana (Pa.), 62-54.
X A limited number of tickets for Sunday night's semifinal session will go on sale Sunday at noon at TJ's Sports Garden and Restaurant on National Road. Some tickets will also be available at the ASRC when the doors open at 4 p.m.
X West Liberty has won 28 of its last 29 games
X The Hilltoppers were the first team to score 100 points against East Stroudsburg since the Warriors dropped a 109-106 triple-overtime decision at California (Pa.) on Dec. 22, 2004
X West Liberty is 24-0 in Saturday games over the past two seasons
X The Hilltoppers have won 72 of their last 74 games at the ASRC and are 32-3 (.914) at home against non-conference opponents during the Crutchfield Era
