Men's Basketball | 1/20/2017 1:29:00 AM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Dan Monteroso drained a clutch jumper and two free throws in the final 24 second of double-overtime Thursday night to help No. 4 West Liberty outlast No. 6 Wheeling Jesuit, 96-90, in a Top 10 showdown before an overflow crowd at the ASRC.
"What a game! What an atmosphere! We had so many guys come up big for us tonight and we needed every one of them," Hilltopper head coach Jim Crutchfield said. "We've had so many exciting games with (Wheeling) Jesuit over the years but I don't know if any of them can top this one."
West Liberty (16-1, 10-1) had led throughout the second half but a late surge by the Cardinals (15-2, 9-2) put the visitors on top, 73-71, before Monteroso dropped in two charity tosses with 6.8 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
Jesuit's Kyle Ritz hit a 3-pointer and a free throw that seemed to put WJU in the driver's seat with an 80-77 lead at 1:49 of the first overtime, forcing a Hilltopper timeout.
Crutchfield set up a 3-point shot for Zac Grossenbacher out of the timeout and the 6-8 senior hit nothing but net on the game-tying trey. The teams traded baskets in the final minute, sending the game into its second extra frame tied at 82-82.
West Liberty never trailed in the second overtime but couldn't get any separation until the final two minutes.
A long 2-pointer from Devin Hoehn put WLU up, 90-87, with 2:04 on the clock. Clay Guillozet grabbed the rebound of a missed jumper by Preston Boswell and got the ball ahead to James Griffin, who found David Dennis streaking into the clear for a runout layup and a 92-87 lead with 1:41 to go.
The Cardinals weren't finished as a conventional 3-point play from Pat Moseh trimmed the margin to 92-90 with 1:21 remaining. The teams traded misses and the Hilltoppers called another timeout with 37 seconds left in overtime and 21 ticks showing on the shot clock.
Monteroso popped free on the left side of the lane and put up a quick 10-footer that dropped through with 24 seconds left to make it a two-possession game, 94-90.
Moseh missed a 3-point try for WJU and Monteroso was fouled as he pulled down the rebound. The junior transfer from Purdue made both free throws to ice the game with just 12 seconds left.
"Monteroso grabbed some big rebounds and hit some key shots for us," Crutchfield said. "Zac had a huge 3-pointer in the first overtime and that long 2-pointer by Devin was really big. 
"There were a lot of guys playing a lot of minutes and trying to do everything they could to win the basketball game on every possession all night long tonight. I thought the level of play was very high throughout. It was just a great game between two very good evenly-matched teams. Maybe we should have charged a little extra when it went into overtime."
All five starters hit double-figures for West Liberty. Monteroso – who played all 45 minutes – led the way with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Dennis matched the 17 points while handing out a game-high 7 assists and Hoehn chipped in with 15 points. Griffin had 14 points and 9 rebounds while Grossenbacher stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a pair of steals. 
Boswell came off the bench to lead five double-figure scorers for Wheeling Jesuit with 18 points while Haywood Highsmith charted a double-double of 12 points and 17 rebounds.
"In a game this close, the difference between winning and losing is so thin it could be just one bounce, one bad pass, one offensive rebound," Crutchfield said. "The thing you take away from this – and I thought both teams were great examples – is that you have to play as hard as you can on every possession because you never know which possession will be the one that makes the difference."
The Hilltoppers won't have much time to celebrate as they hit the road on Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against Notre Dame in South Euclid, Ohio.
"We have to take that same intensity with us when we go on the road Saturday against a very good Notre Dame team," Crutchfield said. "We'll enjoy this one tonight but we have to be totally focused on Notre Dame when we come back in tomorrow."