Men's Basketball | 12/4/2016 8:31:00 PM

Box Score FAIRMONT, W.Va. – No. 11-ranked Fairmont State came from behind in the waning minutes here Sunday afternoon to hand No. 1 West Liberty its first loss, 86-81, in a nationally-televised clash of Mountain East Conference powers at Joe Retton Arena.
Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (7-1, 3-1) led for most of the second half but back-to-back rebound baskets by the Falcons' Trevor Andrews-Evans forged a 75-75 deadlock with 2:50 to play.
West Liberty's Brandon Smith drained a 3-pointer to make it 78-75 with 2:21 remaining but Fairmont (7-0, 4-0) answered with a Matt Bingaya bonus bomb to knot the game again, 78-78, as the clock ticked under 2 minutes.
The Falcons' Shammgod Wells came up with a steal to foil the ensuing WLU possession and Bingaya was fouled on his way back up after pulling down an offensive rebound with 1:03 to go.
Bingaya made both free throws for an 80-78 Fairmont lead and Wells got the ball back for the hosts with another steal.
Following a timeout, Bingaya missed a point-blank shot at the rim but Andrews-Evans came up big again with his third put-back hoop in a 3-minute span, making it a two-possession game, 82-78, with only 23 seconds to play.
West Liberty's David Dennis cut the lead to 82-81 with a clutch 3-pointer and the Hilltoppers fouled Wells on the in-bounds to stop the clock with 15.7 seconds remaining.
After making the front end of the 1-and-1, Wells missed the second free throw but won the scramble for the rebound and was fouled again with 10 seconds left.
This time he made both free throws and then intercepted the in-bounds pass to seal the win, adding another free throw to conclude the scoring.
The loss spoiled an impressive performance by West Liberty junior Dan Monteroso, who poured in a game-high 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting from the floor while grabbing 7 rebounds and being charted with 3 steals. Dennis added 16 points along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists while Smith finished with 10 points and Zac Grossenbacher cleared a team-high 10 rebounds.
Bingaya led the way for Fairmont State with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Jason Jolly and Thomas Wimbush finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Hilltoppers will be idle this week but return to action on Dec. 13 when they head to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for a non-conference game against Nova Southeastern.