PHILIPPI, W.Va. – Cedric Harris pumped in a game-high 30 points and a hot-shooting West Liberty team drained 13-of-27 3-pointers Saturday night as the No. 3 Hilltoppers shot down Alderson-Broaddus, 92-79, in a key West Virginia Conference men's basketball test at Rex Pyles Arena.

It was the eighth straight win for West Liberty (22-1, 16-1), which moved one step closer to becoming the first team to win four consecutive WVIAC titles in nearly four decades.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's visitors closed out the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 43-35 lead into the locker room and Chris Morrow gave the Black and Gold their first double-digit lead, 46-35, when he opened the second half with a 3-point stroke.

The Battlers, who had risen to third place in the WVIAC standings, rode the emotions of a sellout crowd to put together an answering run. Roy Brown capped a 19-6 surge with a strong move to the hoop at the 13:36 mark, giving Alderson-Broaddus a 54-52 lead.

Harris knotted the score at 54-54 with a 17-foot jumper and, following an Adam Kline free throw, Falk put the Hilltoppers ahead to stay, 56-55, with a curl cut to the hoop as the clock ticked past 12 minutes.

Harris then wrapped a pair of mid-range jumpers around a deep 3-pointer to finish off an 11-1 spurt and open up a 63-55 West Liberty lead with just under 10 minutes to go.

Alderson-Broaddus never seriously threatened again and the Hilltoppers stretched the margin as high as 18 points, 88-70, in the waning minutes before coasting into the winner's circle.

Falk, who sat out a lengthy stretch of the second half with foul trouble, still put 19 points on the board to back Harris's strong outing. Shawn Dyer had an outstanding game off the bench, rounding out the double-figure scorers with 17 points – including a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the second half.

Kurklin Bohanon paced A-B with 29 points while Adam Kline and Brown added 15 and 14 points, respectively.

The Hilltoppers return home to host Charleston – which handed WLU its only loss earlier this season – on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC.

GAME NOTES

X Falk's 19 points lifted him to No. 10 on the school's career scoring list with 1,709 points

X West Liberty improved to 94-3 in its last 97 regular-season games

X After starting out 0-4 against A-B, Crutchfield has won 8 of his last 9 games against the Battlers

X Fairmont State was the last team to win four straight WVIAC titles. Legendary coach Joe Retton led the Falcons to eight consecutive championships from 1971-78