FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The No. 8-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team clinched at least a share of its sixth consecutive conference championship Saturday afternoon with a convincing 94-78 romp past Fairmont State before another large crowd at the ASRC.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (22-2, 17-2) never trailed after the midway point of the first half and answered the Falcons' (17-8, 14-5) only challenge of the second half with a decisive run to put the game on ice.

"We didn't change anything," Crutchfield said after watching his team avenge last month's 99-83 loss in Fairmont. "We go out there every game looking to play good pressure defense, share the basketball and hope we make some shots. We did that today and came away with a very nice win."

A 14-4 Hilltopper run late in the first half produced the first double-digit lead of the game, 46-35, after Indiana Faithfull splashed home a couple of free throws with just 1:09 showing on the first half clock. West Liberty carried a 48-38 lead into the break.

The Falcons, who came into the game having won 9 of their last 10 outings, were able to put together a brief challenge midway through the second half.

A Chase Morgan 3-pointer trimmed the margin to 60-58 with 10:38 remaining but the Hilltoppers responded in impressive fashion.

C.J. Hester powered inside for two of his 15 points and Seger Bonifant followed with one of his five 3-point bombs to ignite a 15-2 Hilltopper surge that gave the Black and Gold what proved to be an insurmountable 75-60 lead with a little more than six minutes to play. 

The margin never dropped below double figures the rest of the way.

Bonifant led another balanced West Liberty attack with 21 points. Hester and Joe Lococo joined him in double-figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively, but a total of eight Hilltoppers finished the day with 7 or more points in the scorebook.

"It's a team game and this was a great team win," Crutchfield said. "I'm really proud of these guys and I'm proud of our fans, as well. For them to come out on a snowy day like this and support us the way they do is a great credit to them. We had a great atmosphere for a college basketball game today and it definitely played a role in the outcome."

Fairmont got a game-high 26 points from Nick Harney while Morgan and Jamel Morris added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

West Liberty heads to West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday with a chance to lock up its sixth straight outright conference title. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Buckhannon.

GAME NOTES

X The Hilltoppers shot 51 percent (31-of-61) from the floor for their 92nd consecutive win when shooting 50 percent or better, dating back to the 2007-08 season

X Jim Crutchfield improved to 24-3 against Fairmont State in his 11 seasons at the WLU helm

X Hester moved into the Top 10 on West Liberty's all-time scoring list with 1,743 points. Tom Ackerman is No. 9 all-time with 1,834

X The Hilltoppers are 93-2 over the past four seasons when scoring 90 or more points

X West Liberty is an eye-popping 116-4 (.967) in its last games at the ASRC