WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Unbeaten and No. 1-ranked West Liberty broke open a close game with a 17-2 burst just past the midway mark of the second half and pulled away to an 89-69 victory against Clarion (Pa.) Sunday afternoon at the ASRC.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (9-0) trailed at intermission after a sloppy first half and were clinging to a 61-58 lead as the clock ticked under 10 minutes when the Black and Gold shifted into overdrive.

Zak Kirkbride got things rolling by wrapping a pair of putback baskets around three David Dennis free to produce the game's first double-digit lead, 68-58, with 8:12 remaining.

After Dennis finished off a pretty assist from Zac Grossenbacher to make it 70-58, the Golden Eagles (6-5) tried to stop the bleeding with a 12-foot leaner from Andre Anthony but the hosts simply broke out the heavy artillery.

Clarion called for a timeout after Devin Hoehn and Seger Bonifant rained in back-to-back 3-pointers in a 25-second span but Mike Lamberti capped the surge with a drive to the hoop for a 78-60 lead at the 5-minute mark and the visitors never recovered.

"We did hit some big shots during that sequence," Crutchfield said, "but we also strung a lot of defensive stops together. Just about every time you see an extended run like that, it's being fueled by the defense."

It had been quite a different story in the opening 20 minutes as a hard-working Golden Eagles squad harried the Hilltoppers into numerous turnovers.

Clarion scored 13 of the last 15 points in the first half to take a 44-41 lead into the locker room. West Liberty finished the half with more turnovers (17) than field goals (15) and a narrow 21-20 edge off the glass.

"Give Clarion a lot of credit," Crutchfield said. "They really played hard and put us in the position where we had to play well in order to win the basketball game. The 17 turnovers are really uncharacteristic of us but it's something you almost like to see in the early season. It really reinforces the importance of spacing and taking care of the basketball."

The Hilltoppers cleaned up their act considerably after their halftime discussion, committing only five turnovers the rest of the way and posting a 35-18 rebounding advantage over the final 20 minutes. West Liberty finished the afternoon with 56 rebounds – 21 of them coming on the offensive end.

"We did a much better job in the second half," Crutchfield said. "This wasn't our best shooting game but if you can limit yourself to 5 turnovers in a half and outrebound the other guys by 17, you won't have to shoot the ball all that well to come away with a win."

Bonifant led the Hilltoppers with 26 points – including a 5-for-8 showing from the 3-point arc – while Dennis had another double-double with 24 points and 11 assists, both career-highs. Grossenbacher continued to be a force in the paint with 8 points and a career-high 14 rebounds while Hoehn added 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Anthony led all scorers with 28 points for Clarion. Rob Agurs and B.J. Andrews rounded out the Golden Eagles' double-figure scorers with 16 and 10 points, respectively.

West Liberty returns to action Wednesday night with a non-conference game against Central State (Ohio). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC.