Men's Basketball | 1/14/2017 7:22:00 PM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 4-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team rolled to its sixth straight win Saturday afternoon, romping to a 98-71 victory against UVa-Wise at the ASRC.
Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (14-1, 8-1) led by as many as 15 points in the first half but struggled to find the range at times before settling for a 42-31 margin at the break.
The Cavaliers (3-12, 1-8) continued to put up a good fight when play resumed and a 3-point bomb from Michal Seals got the margin under double-digits, 55-46, with 13:26 still to play.
James Griffin answered for the Black and Gold with a driving layup to restore the double-digit lead and West Liberty's full-court pressure turned up the heat.
Dan Monteroso tacked on a pair of free throws when he was fouled after a Devin Hoehn steal and Monteroso followed with a steal of his own. Hoehn's shot rimmed around and out but Monteroso was there for the follow.
Zac Grossenbacher missed a 3-point try after Brady Arnold came up with WLU's third straight steal off the press but Monteroso grabbed the rebound and splashed home a 10-foot jumper for the Hilltoppers' eighth point in a 55-second span.
West Liberty never looked back the rest of the way, shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor in the second half and leading by as many as 29 points down the stretch.
"We talked at halftime about playing with a little more intensity on defense and getting better movement against their zone," Crutchfield said. "I thought we accomplished that for the most part.
"We shot the ball better in the second half but we were getting easier looks. We were able to get the ball inside much better against both their man and their zone which really opened things up for us."
Hoehn led all scorers with 24 points while Griffin had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Clay Guillozet was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor – including a trio of 3-pointers – to add 13 points off the bench. Monteroso finished with 11 points and David Dennis Jr. added 8 points and 6 assists in a typically balanced West Liberty attack.
"This was a nice team win," Crutchfield said. "Everybody contributed. All 11 guys scored and we were able to keep everybody's minutes under control. That's the kind of thing that can pay dividends for you when you're playing three tough conference games in a week."
Seals led UVa-Wise with 22 points while Taiwo Badmus and Yesid Mosquera-Perea joined him in double-figures with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
West Liberty returns to the ASRC on Monday for a 6:30 p.m. test against Concord.