Men's Basketball | 3/30/2014 2:56:00 AM

Box Score     EVANSVILLE, Ind. – No. 7 West Liberty came up just a few minutes shy of hoisting its first national championship trophy here Saturday afternoon as No. 20 Central Missouri caught fire down the stretch and rallied to an 84-77 victory in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight national championship game at the Ford Center.
    "When you put as much heart and effort into the game as our guys do, it's hard when you don't come out on top," Crutchfield said in the post-game press conference. "These guys (pointing at seniors Cedric Harris and Keene Cockburn seated next to him on the podium) haven't had to talk about very many losses during their time here. We really wanted to get this one for them and we did all we could but Central Missouri played great. They just beat us."
    The Mules (30-5), who had averaged only 6 3-point field goals a night through their first 34 games, buried 7 bonus bombs in the second half alone Saturday to fuel what proved to be the winning rally.
    While Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (31-4) led by as many as 9 points in the first half and spent large stretches of the second half on top, they were never able to push the margin into double-digits as UCM refused to panic.
    The taller, more experienced Central Missouri squad used its size advantage to stay in contact for the first 30 minutes, finishing the afternoon with a 44-36 edge off the glass with 18 of those rebounds coming on the offensive end.
    With the exception of WLU's 9-point first half lead, the game was close throughout with 14 ties and 9 lead changes. Neither team held a lead of more than 3 points for the first 15 minutes of the second half.
    The key sequence of the contest came midway through the half when West Liberty began trading 3-point shots with Daylen Robinson, the Mules' standout senior transfer from Texas Tech.
    On most days, that would have worked in the Hilltoppers' favor as WLU entered the game ranked No. 3 in the nation with 12.2 3-pointers a game while Robinson had made a total of just 22 3-point field goals in UCM's first 34 games.
    Unfortunately for WLU, Saturday was not one of those days.
    Shawn Dyer gave West Liberty what proved to be its final lead, 65-62, with a deep 3-pointer as the clock ticked past the 9-minute mark but Robinson, who had missed his first two 3-point tries, tied it with a 3-pointer at 8:21.
    A Hilltopper turnover gave the ball back to UCM and, after an offensive rebound extended the possession, Robinson knocked down a second 3-pointer for a 68-65 Central Missouri lead.
    Cedric Harris tied it again, 68-68, with another clutch 3-pointer at 6:05 but the Mules ran the shot clock down into single digits before Robinson rose and fired in his third "trey" in a 3-minute span, putting the Missouri squad ahead to stay, 71-68, with 5:31 remaining.
    West Liberty – which was just 8-for-29 from the 3-point line on the afternoon – missed another 3-point shot and Robinson went to the foul line for a 1-and-1 after being fouled. He missed the front end but 6-9 Dillon Deck grabbed his fifth offensive rebound and scored for a 73-68 UCM lead with 4:48 to go.
    "The difference in the game was that they shot the ball very well and hit the boards with a passion," Crutchfield said. "That will win you a lot of games. They're a veteran team that played hard basketball and played smart basketball."
    Harris hit a free throw and Dyer knifed down the lane for a layup to make it 73-71 with 3:47 on the clock but UCM's Charles Hammork – who had made only 9 3-pointers all season before arriving in Evansville – knocked down a dagger of a 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining to restore the 5-point lead, 76-71.
    The Hilltoppers struggled with turnovers and missed shots down the stretch and didn't make another field goal until Seger Bonifant hit a layup just ahead of the buzzer to complete the scoring.
    "We survived 18 offensive rebounds in the semifinals which made it really tough to come out of there with a win, especially when we didn't have our best shooting night," Crutchfield said as he looked at the stat sheet. "Our No. 1 goal today was to keep them off the boards but that's easier said than done.
    "When you give up 18 offensive rebounds and go 8-for-29 from the 3-point line, those numbers don't go hand-in-hand with winning. Despite those numbers and Central Missouri making over 50 percent of their 3-pointers, it was still a one-possession game with less than a minute to go so give our guys a little credit. We did a lot of things well today. Central Missouri just made more plays than we did down the stretch."
    Dyer finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds to lead West Liberty while Harris added 18 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. C.J. Hester racked up another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Cockburn just missed a double-double with 8 points and 8 boards. Robinson led all scorers for UCM with 21 points while Deck finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Hammork just missed a double-double with 9 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
    "We had a great run through the tournament," said Cockburn, whose 3 blocked shots pushed his single-season school record to 99. "I wish we could have finished it off with a championship but all in all it was still a great season.
    Dyer and Harris were named to the Elite Eight All-Tournament Team. Robinson was voted Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Deck and Hammork.