Men's Basketball | 11/8/2013 12:41:00 PM

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 3-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team are set to open the 2013-14 season at home Saturday night when Coach Jim Crutchfield's high-flying Hilltoppers host Washington Adventist (Md.). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the ASRC.
    Crutchfield, who has led West Liberty to three consecutive NCAA Division II Atlantic Region championships and Elite Eight tourney berths, has some holes to fill with the graduation losses of National Player of the Year Alex Falk and a pair of 1,000-point scorers in Chris Morrow and Tim Hausfeld. That trio led the Hilltoppers to a staggering 128-9 record during their four years, capping their careers with a school-record 34-win season last winter which included their second run to the NCAA Division II Final Four in the past three seasons.
    "This is the year where our system has to show its strength," Crutchfield said. "Obviously we lost some pretty significant players but there's a certain style of play that's become synonymous with West Liberty basketball. Last year's senior class did its part to live up to the tradition. Now it's time for this group to step up and embrace the challenge."
    The cupboard is certainly far from bare. Senior guard Cedric Harris (16.8 ppg.) has scored more than 1,600 points in his career and was one of five first-team picks on The Sporting News' NCAA Division II Preseason All-America Team.
    Also back is junior wing C.J. Hester (12.1 ppg., 9.2 rpg.), a 6-4 rebounding machine who has ranked among the national leaders in rebounding and field-goal percentage each of his first two years and is less than 100 points away from joining West Liberty's rapidly-expanding 1,000-Point Club.
    Shawn Dyer (11.1 ppg.), a 6-0 junior guard, is West Liberty's third returning double-figure scorer. Dyer came on strong last year and was playing starter's minutes down the stretch.
    They'll be joined by a pair of tourney-tested sophomore sharpshooters in Seger Bonifant – the WVIAC's top 3-point shooter a year ago – and Kelvin Goodwin along with junior forward Keene Cockburn, sophomore guard Mike Lamberti, senior guard Jeff Yunetz, redshirt freshman guards Devin Hoehn and Torin Wetzel. New to the mix this year are true freshmen Zak Kirkbride and Brandon Smith.
    Washington Adventist already has a couple of games under its belt and is off to a 2-0 start. Coach Patrick Crarey's Shock outgunned Oakwood (Ala.), 95-89, in their season opener last Saturday before muscling out a 66-51 win against Virginia-Lynchburg on Wednesday. Jawuan Lockhart, a 6-0 senior guard, leads four double-figure scorers at 19.5 ppg.
    "We prepared for this season just like we've prepared for every season since I've been here," Crutchfield said. "We want to be playing well enough by the end of the year that we can go down to the conference tournament and feel that we have a realistic chance of winning it. We've been able to put ourselves in that position the past few years and things have worked out pretty well."
    Following Saturday's opener, the Hilltoppers will head to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. next week to take on Nova Southeastern out of the highly-regarded Sunshine State Conference. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Friday at NSU's 4,500-seat Don Taft University Center.