The Golden Eagles (21-8), who entered the contest ranked No. 4 in the region, held the nation's highest-scoring team to its fewest points in Coach Jim Crutchfield's 10 years at the helm as the Hilltoppers (26-3) shot just 37 percent (21-of-57) from the floor in a see-saw game that saw 6 ties and 11 lead changes.
Neither team led by more than 4 points in the final 8 minutes of a surprising defensive struggle as West Liberty had swept the regular-season series from the Golden Eagles by scores of 89-76 and 103-71.
Dino DiTrapano's runner with 3:13 to go capped an 11-2 Charleston run that gave UC its largest lead of the game at 58-54 but the Hilltoppers – who were gunning for their fourth straight league tourney title – answered quickly with a Shawn Dyer leaner to make it 58-56 with 3:03 remaining.
A rebound basket by C.J. Hester forged a 58-58 with 2:12 to go and Hester cleared the rebound of a missed Humphrey 3-pointer to get the ball back at the 1:45 mark.
Free throws by Dyer and Charleston's Fred Harris gave the ball back to WLU with the score tied at 60 and less than a minute remaining.
Dyer lost the ball out of bounds on a drive to the hoop with 44 seconds to play and UC ran the shot clock down into single digits before Humphrey – a Marshall University transfer – popped wide open on the right wing to bury the go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds left. The Hilltoppers couldn't get a game-tying trey to drop as time expired.
Hester had 14 points and 9 rebounds while Dyer added 14 points and 5 boards to pace West Liberty.
Denzel Douglas paced UC with 16 points but Simpson was a major thorn in the Hilltoppers' side with 15 points – all in the second half – and a game-high 11 rebounds. Humphrey with 14 points and Aleksander Kesic with 10 rounded out the double-figure scorers for UC, which shot nearly 60 percent from the floor in the second half.
GAME NOTES
X Charleston committed only 6 turnovers and held a decisive 18-5 edge in points off turnovers
X Keene Cockburn had 2 blocked shots to set a school single-season record with 77 blocks. Vince Lacher set the previous standard of 75 rejections during the 1990-91season
X This was the 5th time UC and West Liberty had met in a tournament title tilt. WLU won in 1952, 1971 and 2012 while Charleston (Morris Harvey) prevailed in 1964 and on Sunday
X The Hilltoppers are 7-6 all-time in tournament championship games while the Golden Eagles improved to 10-13
X Pairings and sites for next weekend's NCAA Division II regional tournaments will be announced late Sunday night
X 3-time defending Atlantic Region champion West Liberty has been ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region all season
X The Hilltoppers have been selected as a regional tournament host in each of the last four seasons
X East Stroudsburg (28-1), ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic Region, beat unranked West Chester, 92-80, in Sunday's PSAC Tournament championship game
