Men's Basketball | 2/1/2017 10:11:00 PM

Box Score SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 3-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team breezed to its 13th straight win here Wednesday night, racing away to a 97-75 road victory against Shepherd at the Butcher Center.
The high-flying Hilltoppers (20-1, 13-1) also presented head coach Jim Crutchfield with his 13th consecutive 20-win season while completing a sweep of the regular-season series against the Rams (13-8, 10-5).
Shepherd got off to a fast start, opening up an 11-5 lead as West Liberty missed 9 of its first 11 shots, but the Hilltoppers didn't stay cold for long.
The Black and Gold turned the tables on their hosts, knocking down 10 of their next 12 field goal attempts. Dan Monteroso capped the 26-10 surge with an emphatic dunk, giving WLU its first double-digit lead, 31-21, with 8:25 to play in the first half.
The Hilltoppers were still in control, 50-38, at the half but the Rams weren't ready to mail it in.
Thomas Lang splashed home a trio of 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half and a Skylar Roman bonus bomb trimmed the margin to 56-52 with 14:30 left in regulation.
West Liberty's Clay Guillozet answered with a 3-point bomb of his own and then added a conventional 3-point play to restore the double-digit lead, 62-52, with 13:42 remaining.
Shepherd got the lead under 10 points for the final time, 67-58, on an A.J. Carr baby hook with 10:46 on the clock but back-to-back 3-pointers from Zac Grossenbacher and Devin Hoehn sparked a 14-3 WLU run and the Hilltoppers never looked back.
Monteroso was West Liberty's leading scorer with 18 points but David Dennis had a huge night with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Hoehn passed the 1,700-point milestone for his career with 17 points and Grossenbacher notched a double-double with 13 points and a dozen rebounds. Brady Arnold provided a spark off the bench with all 11 of his points in the first half.
Carr led the Rams with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Steffen Davis had 17 points in the first half but was shut out after intermission while Lang added 11 points in a losing cause.
Wednesday's win sets up a huge showdown on Saturday when the No. 3 Hilltoppers host unbeaten and No. 2-ranked Fairmont State. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at the ASRC.