Men's Basketball | 11/29/2017 9:30:00 PM

Box Score

    URBANA, Ohio – The unbeaten and No. 7-ranked West Liberty University men's team continued its impressive early-season run here Wednesday night with a 115-86 blowout of Urbana in Mountain East Conference action at the Grimes Center.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (6-0, 3-0) led virtually wire-to-wire in breezing past the century mark for the sixth time in as many games this season.
    The Blue Knights (0-6, 0-3) kept things interesting in the early going and trailed just 23-18 after a pair of Chris Jackson free throws with 11:51 remaining in the opening half but Dan Monteroso came up with a steal and fed Evan French for a 3-point bomb that seemed to shift the Hilltoppers into overdrive.
    A barrage of turnovers and 3-point baskets followed before back-to-back layups by Dalton Bolon and Luke Dyer capped an 18-3 Hilltopper surge that pushed the lead to 41-21 with 6:18 still showing.
    West Liberty kept the accelerator mashed to the floor for the rest of the half and when the smoke had cleared, the Black and Gold were jogging off to the locker room with an insurmountable 66-35 lead.
    The halftime stats told a sad but familiar story for the outmanned Blue Knights as the Hilltopper pressure had forced 17 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and held a whopping 24-0 edge in points off turnovers before coasting through the second half.
    Bolon knocked down 20 points to lead seven double-figure scorers in a balanced attack for the Black and Gold. Brandon Smith added 14 points while French finished with 13 lightings. Monteroso and Eric Meininger each finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds while Tyler Primmer rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points.
    Carlas Jackson led all scorers with a game-high 28 points for Urbana.
    West Liberty returns home to host Notre Dame on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at the ASRC.