CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team overcame major foul problems and an upset-minded opponent Friday night to escape with a 73-71 Mountain East Conference Tournament quarterfinal win against No. 9-seed Glenville State.

"That's why I think this might be the best league in the country," head coach Jim Crutchfield said. "We have three of the top five teams in the national poll but you saw one of them (No. 5 Fairmont State) knocked out this afternoon and then Glenville played their hearts out against us all the way to the final buzzer. I give them all the credit in the world.

"It certainly wasn't the way I drew it up but when you get to tournament time, it's all about survive and advance. That's exactly what we did tonight."

There were 10 ties and a dozen lead changes in the nail-biting contest, which saw the two teams combine for 48 personal fouls and a staggering 62 free throw attempts. Four players fouled out of the game and three others finished the night with 4 fouls.

Not surprisingly, the foul line played a crucial role in deciding the outcome in the final minute.

Brett Morris – who had a huge second half for the Pioneers (11-19) – gave Glenville its final lead of the night, 70-69, on two free throws with 43 seconds to play.

Two-time MEC Player of the Year Seger Bonifant put the Hilltoppers (27-2) ahead to stay, 71-70, with a slashing drive to the hoop at the 35-second mark.

The Pioneers missed at the other end but retained possession by forcing a jump ball on the rebound with 7 seconds left.

West Liberty's Zak Kirkbride deflected the in-bounds pass to Devin Hoehn, who was fouled and swished both free throws for a 73-70 lead with 4.9 seconds on the clock.

The Hilltoppers fouled Sedric Nady just across halfcourt to prevent him from launching a potential game-tying 3-point attempt. With 3.1 ticks remaining, Nady made the first foul toss and missed the second one intentionally. Glenville grabbed the rebound but couldn't get a shot to go down at the buzzer.

West Liberty lost starting forwards Mike Lamberti and Zac Grossenbacher to fouls down the stretch. Bonifant, who picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, played the final 14:40 without picking up his fifth.

"I don't take guys out for foul trouble if I need them on the floor," Crutchfield said. "We needed Seger out there."

Bonifant led all scorers with 32 points – including a 12-of-14 showing from the charity stripe – while grabbing 6 rebounds and handing out 4 assists. Grossenbacher muscled in 17 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds while Hoehn added a dozen tallies.

The Hilltoppers struggled through a difficult shooting night in the cavernous arena. West Liberty shot 40 percent as a team but Bonifant and Grossenbacher were a combined 17-of-23 (74 percent) from the floor while the rest of the Black and Gold went a disappointing 6-of-34 (17 percent).

Morris almost single-handedly kept the Pioneers' upset hopes alive by drained 25 of his team-high 27 points in the second half. Nady backed Morris with 23 points while Jalon Plummer finished with 15.

West Liberty moves on to Saturday's 6 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Friday's late game between No. 4 seed Concord and No. 5 seed Charleston.

GAME NOTES

X The Hilltoppers improved to 143-7 over the past six years – and 22-0 this season – when holding their opponents under 90 points

X Bonifant is the third-leading scorer in West Liberty history with 2,112 points. Spencer Johnson is No. 2 at 2,137

X The defending MEC Tournament champions, Glenville came into Friday's game with a 6-1 record in MEC Tournament play – including an 83-68 upset of the Hilltoppers in last year's semifinal

X Crutchfield has a 23-8 record in league tournament play and has won three tournament championships