URBANA, Ohio – No. 1-ranked West Liberty scored the first six points of overtime and went on to hit the tape first in a 138-133 track meet of a Mountain East Conference instant classic Saturday afternoon at Urbana.

It was the first serious scare of the season for Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (7-0, 4-0) as the host Blue Knights (2-6, 1-3) traded baskets with their nationally-ranked foes throughout a back-and-forth contest in which neither team led by more than 6 points after intermission.

The crowd was on the edge of its seats for nearly the entire second half, which featured a staggering 13 ties and 16 lead changes. The score was tied, 118-118, when a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Urbana's Rodney Clark Jr. clanged off the iron at the end of regulation.

West Liberty's Indiana Faithfull scored 10 of his career-high 25 points in the extra period and gave WLU its largest lead of the second half when he wrapped a pair of driving layups around a C.J. Hester putback for a 124-118 Hilltopper advantage at 3:29 of overtime.

Faithfull got to the rim twice more during the extra period to maintain some breathing room for the visitors and when Chris Cromity's short jumper pulled the Blue Knights within a hoop, 135-133, at the 13-second mark, Faithfull calmly dropped in a pair of free throws to ice the verdict with just 11 ticks remaining.

Seger Bonifant led all scorers with a career-high 35 points for the Hilltoppers – including an eye-popping 14-for-15 showing from the charity stripe while senior wing C.J. Hester posted his second straight double-double with 28 points and a game-high 12 boards. Devin Hoehn added 19 points and Mike Lamberti chipped in with 13.

Clark had 24 points to pace seven double-figure scorers for the much-improved hosts, the only NCAA Division II team to go winless last season, while Myles Busby had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hilltoppers shot an impressive 58 percent (45-of-78) from the floor and were a whopping 45-of-61 (74 percent) from the charity stripe as an aggressive Urbana defense was determined to limit WLU's 3-point shot opportunities. As a result, the Hilltoppers made just 3-of-14 shots from behind the arc – including an 0-for-7 showing in the second half.

Urbana also shot well from the field (48-of-90, 53 percent), which included 11-of-29 on 3-point attempts. The hosts helped themselves from the free throw line, as well, draining 26-of-32 (81 percent) from the stripe.

West Liberty will be idle this week due to semester exams but return to action on Dec. 14 when the Hilltoppers host Holy Family (Pa.) in a 2 p.m. tipoff at the ASRC.