Men's Basketball | 2/22/2014 8:46:00 PM
Box Score GLENVILLE, W.Va. – C.J. Hester was nearly perfect with a career-high 34 points and No. 6 West Liberty shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor here Saturday afternoon to outgun regionally-ranked Glenville State, 109-97, on the Pioneers' home boards.
Hester, already a 2-time Academic All-American as a junior, hit 13-of-14 shots from the floor – including a school-record 7-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc – as the Hilltoppers (23-2, 19-2) opened up a 19-point second half lead before holding Glenville State (16-9, 13-8) at bay down the stretch.
The teams traded leads briefly at the start of the game but West Liberty took the lead for good, 19-16, when Shawn Dyer and Seger Bonifant drained back-to-back 3-pointers in a 23-second span with just under 14 minutes showing on the first half clock.
Hitting 65 percent (26-of-40) of their first half shots, the Hilltoppers stretched the margin to 65-48 at intermission and picked up right where they had left off when play resumed.
Hester's fourth 3-pointer of the game pushed the lead to 79-60 with 14:37 to go but that's when the Pioneers also began heating up from the perimeter.
Riding the hot shooting hand of Kevin Gray, who hit 6 of his game-high 8 3-pointers in the second half, Glenville began chipping away at the double-digit deficit and cut the lead to 5 points on back-to-back possessions in the final 6 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Pioneers, they had no answer for Hester.
Gray's eighth 3-pointer of the day closed the gap to 88-83 with 5:46 remaining but West Liberty calmly dribbled downcourt and found a wide-open Hester in the corner for a clutch 3-pointer.
Reggie Williams responded with another Glenville bonus bomb to bring the margin back down to 5 points, 91-86, as the clock ticked under 5 minutes but once again Hester came open for another 3-pointer.
That clutch shot – Hester's seventh 3-pointer of the game – put WLU up, 94-86, with 4:42 to go and the Hilltoppers were on their way.
Consecutive 3-pointers from Dyer and Cedric Harris put West Liberty over the century mark, 103-90, with less than 2 minutes remaining and the Hilltoppers closed out the game at the charity stripe.
Harris backed Hester with 22 points while Bonifant and Dyer finished with 18 and 15 points, respectively. Gray had 26 points to pace the hosts, who also got 22 points from Lamar Mallory and 20 more from Donte Morales.
West Liberty closes out the regular season at home on Saturday with a 4 p.m. game against Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit.
GAME NOTES
X Hester's 7-for-7 showing on 3-point attempts is tied with Mack Johnson of Sioux Falls (S.D.) and Austin Wright of Missouri Southern for the most 3-point shots without a miss in the nation this season
X His 34 points and 7 3-pointers also represent West Liberty team highs this year
X The Hilltoppers, who have already clinched the MEC title and the No. 1 seed in next month's inaugural MEC Tournament, have a 104-5 record in league play over the past five seasons
X West Liberty entered Saturday's game ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region with Glenville State at No. 7. The top eight teams at the end of the season earn regional tournament berths
X The Hilltoppers have won 57 consecutive games when scoring 100 or more points
X Harris's four assists lifted him to No. 4 among West Liberty's career leaders with 483. Mike Mathey is No. 3 at WLU with 510
