Men's Basketball | 1/20/2018 6:57:00 PM

Box Score

    WHEELING, W.Va. – Redshirt freshman Dalton Bolon drained six 3-pointers and delivered a huge steal with just 2 seconds remaining Saturday afternoon to help seal No. 1 West Liberty's 81-78 victory against No. 16 Wheeling Jesuit at a sold-out McDonough Center.
    Coach Ben Howlett's unbeaten Hilltoppers (17-0, 12-0) never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 14 points at one juncture but still had to fend off a late surge from the nationally-ranked Cardinals (14-3, 10-2).
    All-American Dan Monteroso sailed coast-to-coast for a layup just ahead of the halftime buzzer to send the Black and Gold into the locker room with a 42-36 lead and West Liberty kept right on rolling when play resumed.
    A trio of 3-pointers from Bolon, James Griffin and Tyler Primmer put WLU up, 53-39, at the 15:40 mark but Wheeling Jesuit refused to fold.
    Chipping away slowly but steadily, the hosts finally got the margin down to 73-71 on a Pat Moseh hoop with 3:51 on the clock but couldn't get over the hump.
    Bolon – who was 6-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc – drained his sixth bonus bomb of the afternoon and Monteroso added back-to-back baskets to push the lead back out to 80-71 with 2:24 to go.
    Pat Moseh hit two straight jumpers and added a free throw as WJU closed to 80-76 in the final minute before Haywood Highsmith knocked down a pair of charity tosses to make it 80-78 with 12.9 ticks remaining.
    Jesuit had a chance to pull out the victory after West Liberty misfired on the front end of a 1-and-1 but Bolon's clutch steal and ensuing free throw with 2.1 seconds to play sealed the deal for the Hilltoppers.
    "This was a big win for us," Howlett said. "Jesuit is really good and (head coach) Danny (Sancomb) does a great job with them. I thought Dan Monteroso put us on his back and carried us to victory tonight. He was ready to go from the time we got off the bus and wasn't going to let us lose."
    Monteroso stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot while Bolon's deadly perimeter shooting produced a team-high 19 points to go along with 7 rebounds.
    "Bolon is one of those guys – and we have a few of them – who are ready for game day every time out," Howlett said. "They never take a night off. These guys are warriors and we're going to ride their coattails the rest of the season."
    Griffin also had a big game with 15 points while Brandon Smith came off the bench with 9 points and 4 assists and Eric Meininger added 8 points and 7 rebounds before fouling out down the stretch.
    Highsmith led WJU with 22 points and a dozen rebounds while Jeremiah Wilson also charted a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Moseh finished with 17 points and Preston Boswell had 13 in a losing cause.
    "You can't ask for a better start than 17-0 and 12-0 in the league," Howlett said, "but the reality is there's a lot of basketball left to be played. We'll enjoy this win tonight, take tomorrow off and get back to work on Monday getting ready to face a very good Shepherd team on Wednesday."