WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team overcame their worst 3-point shooting night in more than a decade Monday night and snapped a rare two-game losing streak with a gritty 84-78 victory against Notre Dame (Ohio) at the ASRC.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (16-2, 10-2) shot just 13 percent (4-of-29) from the 3-point arc during the game but held the upset-minded Falcons (12-6, 6-6) to just two points over the final 3 ½ minutes to complete a season sweep.

"It's always a good sign when you have a bad shooting night and you're still able to beat a very good basketball team," Crutchfield said. "That means you have to be doing something right somewhere else."

Some of those "things" Crutchfield referenced included defending, rebounding and taking care of the basketball.

While West Liberty shot just 40 percent (32-of-80) for the game, that was still better than Notre Dame's 39 percent (30-of-77) showing from the floor. The Hilltoppers also claimed a 54-49 edge off the glass and showed 19 assists against only 11 turnovers.

"Even though we missed a lot of deep looks that we normally make, I thought we helped ourselves with some easy baskets at the rim – especially in the first half," Crutchfield said. "Our guys are learning that you have to battle to win every game in this league and you have to battle for the entire 40 minutes."

After leading by as many as 12 points in the first half, the Hilltoppers settled for a narrow 46-44 halftime advantage after a late Falcon surge. 

Crutchfield had a simple message for the team when they got to the locker room.

"We led at the half in each of our last two games but gave up 60-plus second half points both times to let them get away from us," Crutchfield said. "That was a big focus for us tonight."

The lead changed hands a few times in the early minutes of the second half but a 10-0 burst put West Liberty up, 65-58, with 12:31 remaining and the Hilltoppers never trailed again.

The Falcons made things interesting down the stretch, closing to 79-76 on a Kyauta Taylor 3-pointer with 3:38remaining.

Mike Lamberti made 1-of-2 free throws at the other end to make it 80-76 but neither team could dent the scoreboard again as the clock ticked past the 2-minute mark.

With the shot clock running down on yet another WLU possession, All-American Seger Bonifant whipped a backdoor pass to a cutting Zac Grossenbacher for a ringing dunk that brought the crowd to its feet and gave the hosts some much-needed breathing room, 82-76, with 1:25 to play.

Will Vorhees scored inside for Notre Dame at the 1:06 mark but the visitors didn't score again. Devin Hoehn provided the final margin with a pair of free throws.

Grossenbacher led a balanced West Liberty attack with 14 points and 14 rebounds while Bonifant also finished with 14 points. Hoehn added 13 points while Lamberti finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Beau Justice (8), Eric Meininger (7) and Brady Arnold (7) were major contributors off the bench.

Taylor paced the Falcons with 25 points while Vorhees finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Leading scorer and All-Region standout Tyree Gaiter, who came into the game averaging nearly 24 points a night, managed just 9 points on 2-of-17 shooting from the floor.

The Hilltoppers return to action on Thursday when they host Charleston in a 7:30 p.m. game at the ASRC.