Men's Basketball | 1/28/2017 6:40:00 PM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – No. 3-ranked West Liberty won its 12th straight game in impressive style here Saturday afternoon, sprinting off to a 111-75 blowout of West Virginia State before a near-capacity crowd at the ASRC.
Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (19-1, 13-1) stumbled out of the blocks against the Yellow Jackets (6-14, 3-11), who came out smoking to take a 12-4 lead into the first media timeout with more than five minutes gone in the opening half.
West Liberty slowly began chipping away at the deficit but didn't take the lead for good until Dan Monteroso put back a missed 3-point try by Devin Hoehn for a 31-29 WLU advantage with 7:10 showing on the first half clock.
The hosts were able to get some separation when a Hoehn 3-pointer as the clock ticked past 3 minutes capped a 12-2 spurt that opened up a 47-36 lead and the Black and Gold took a 51-40 edge into the locker room at the break.
The second half was all West Liberty as the Hilltoppers' pressing defense created numerous easy transition opportunities. The lead never dropped below double digits after the opening seconds of the half and the Black and Gold led by as many as 40 points down the stretch.
"It wasn't our best but I thought we were able to wear them down as the game went on," Crutchfield said. "We were a little sloppy at time and State shot the ball really well. They were well over 50 percent from the 3-point arc and much better than we were at the foul line.
"Shooting comes and goes but I thought we did a pretty good job with the variables that you can control – rebounding and defense. We forced 31 turnovers and only turned it over 11 times ourselves. Those 20 extra possessions make a big difference in a basketball game."
Monteroso led the way with 24 points and 8 rebounds – both game-highs – while Hoehn drained four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points. Clay Guillozet added a dozen points, 5 steals and 4 assists off the bench while Tyler Primmer cracked double-figures for the second straight game with 11 tallies.
Ernest Jenkins topped State with 20 points while Cody Morris and Jae'von McClain chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
"We'll enjoy this one tonight," Crutchfield said, "but then we have to turn our full attention to a huge game with Shepherd coming up on Wednesday. They're one of the hottest teams in the league and we have to go to their place. They're a veteran experienced well-coached team and we know we're going to have to play really well to come out of there with a win."
Tipoff for Wednesday's game at Shepherd is set for 7:30 p.m.