Men's Basketball | 1/12/2015 10:20:00 PM
Box Score GLENVILLE, W.Va. – Unbeaten and No. 1-ranked West Liberty broke open a high-scoring shootout with a late 16-2 run here Thursday night and beat Glenville State, 117-109, to take sole possession of first place in the Mountain East Conference.
In a thrilling game which featured 12 ties, 15 lead changes and a staggering 39 3-point field goals, it was Coach
Jim Crutchfield's battle-tested Hilltoppers
(14-0, 9-0) who took command down the stretch.
Brien Winston gave the Pioneers (12-3, 8-1) their final lead of the night, 94-92, when he cashed in a conventional 3-point play with 7:04 remaining.
West Liberty's
Seger Bonifant, who tied an MEC record with a career-high 44 points, knotted the count at 94-94 with a drive to the hoop.
Bonifant then put WLU ahead to stay, 96-94, with a pair of free throws at 5:41 to spark one of the Hilltoppers' familiar scoring bursts.
Fueled by 10 points from Bonifant, the 16-2 surge that gave West Liberty an insurmountable 108-97 lead with just under 3 minutes to play.
The shell-shocked hosts never got closer than the final score in the waning seconds.
Despite Bonifant's record-tying performance, this victory was far from a one-man show.
Sophomore guard
Devin Hoehn scorched the twine for 34 points with 24 of them – including 7 of his career-high 9 3-point field goals – coming in the game's final 16 minutes. The 6-0 backcourter also finished with a game-high 8 rebounds.
Senior point guard
Indiana Faithfull also came up big, dishing out a career-high 12 assists while adding a dozen points, and
C.J. Hester overcame foul trouble to contribute 11 points to the cause.
In all, the Hilltoppers' four scoring leaders combined for 101 points and 19 3-pointers while going 18-for-20 from the charity stripe.
West Liberty shot 63 percent (39-of-62) from the floor as a team, which included a blistering 70 percent (21-of-30) in the second half. The Hilltoppers were just as proficient from the 3-point arc, draining 21-of-35 (60 percent) from distance on the night and an eye-popping 12-of-17 (71 percent) after intermission.
That level of production was necessary to subdue a talented Glenville squad that also shot 60 percent (38-of-63) from the floor to go along with an outstanding 53 percent (18-of-34) from the 3-point arc.
Donte Morales led the hosts with 30 points – keyed by a sizzling 8-of-10 from the 3-point line – while Reggie Williams added 26 more points for a Pioneer squad that placed five players in double figures but was still unable to avoid its first MEC loss of the season.
West Liberty faces another difficult road test on Saturday when the Hilltoppers take their No. 1 ranking to Fairmont State for a 4 p.m. tipoff against the Falcons.
