Men's Basketball | 11/15/2014 9:43:00 PM

Box Score     WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Seger Bonifant poured in 8 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points Saturday night to lead the No. 1-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team to a 105-61 rout of St. Augustine's (N.C.) in the opening game of the Charles and Lavoo Crutchfield Classic at the ASRC.
    Bonifant, a 6-7 junior from Berlin, Ohio, showed why he leads all active NCAA Division II players in career 3-point field goal percentage by going 8-for-9 from behind the 3-point arc. He finished the night 11-of-14 from the floor and grabbed 6 rebounds in a productive 24 minutes of action.
    "We knew Seger could shoot," head coach Jim Crutchfield said with a smile, "but the key was that we were able to get him some really good looks from the perimeter. We're blending in a lot of new faces this year and I thought we did a pretty good job of playing together for the first game but we shot the ball well as a team and that can make up for a lot of things."
    Bonifant came out of the gate with all guns blazing, draining four of his 3-pointers and scoring 17 points in just over 7 minutes as the Hilltoppers wasted no time opening up a double-digit lead against the Falcons from the CIAA.
    West Liberty breezed to a 53-25 halftime lead and led by as many as 48 points in the second half before coasting to the decisive win.
    Devin Hoehn backed Bonifant with 17 points and a career-high 7 assists while 6-8 transfer Zac Grossenbacher just missed a double-double, coming off the bench to score 14 points and grab 9 rebounds.
    "Devin has a reputation as more of a shooter," Crutchfield said, "but we don't really have specific roles. Sometimes it's your night to take the shots and sometimes it's your night to create the shots. That kind of unselfishness is a big part of our success."
    Raheem Jolliffe led St. Augustine's with 27 points but was the team's lone double-figure scorer.
    The Hilltoppers shot a sizzling 55 percent (34-of-61) from the floor and were nearly as efficient from deep, draining 54 percent (17-of-31) of their shots from behind the 3-point arc, enabling Crutchfield to substitute early and often. The starters spent most of the second half seated next to their coach on the bench.
    "When you have less than a 24-hour turnaround, it's a real luxury when you're able to limit your minutes," Crutchfield said. "We still have a lot of things to work on but anytime I'm able to get everybody some significant minutes and come away with a win, I'm a pretty happy guy."
    West Liberty returns to the ASRC Sunday at 4 p.m. to take on another CIAA squad in Fayetteville State (N.C.). St. Augustine's and Cheyney (Pa.) tip off the doubleheader at 2 p.m.
Fayetteville State 67, Cheyney 64
    In the nightcap, Fayetteville State had to overcome a 36-28 halftime deficit to subdue the Pennsylvania squad. Marquette Hill had 13 points and 9 rebounds to pace the winners while Joshua Dawson and Juwan Addison added 11 and 10 points, respectively.  Kevin Larkin led all scorers for Cheyney with 25 points while Khalil Meadows had 13 in a losing cause.