WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 2-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team opened the Mountain East Conference season with a bang here Saturday, shattering numerous school and MEC records in a 158-106 blowout of Glenville State at the ASRC.
    Coach Ben Howlett's high-flying Hilltoppers (3-1, 1-0) shot 63 percent from the floor and better than 50 percent from the 3-point arc in knocking the visiting Pioneers (3-1, 0-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten.
    "Glenville's an extremely talented team but we felt like we could get good looks against them if we moved on offense and shared the ball," Howlett said. "We talked about taking better care of the basketball and we had 33 assists and 7 turnovers tonight. With the players we have, we can put up some serious numbers when we execute like that."
    West Liberty took the mystery out of this game in a hurry. After Yahel Hill's 3-pointer put WLU up 13-7 just three minutes after the opening tip, Howlett brought his starters to the bench and sent in what he refers to as his second platoon.
    Senior guard Tyler Primmer drained a 3-pointer just four seconds after stepping onto the court and Howlett's second platoon mashed the accelerator to the floor. With Primmer pouring in 9 of his career-high 22 points in a 2-minute span, West Liberty scored 11 of the next 12 points to go up, 24-8, with 15 minutes left in the half.
    "The starters got us off to a great start, which is something we emphasize, and then the second platoon came in and took it to the next level," Howlett said. "I believe in substituting as a group and Tyler's a big part of that. He's the leader of that second platoon and they really gave us a boost."
    Glenville never really recovered. The lead hit 40 points, 81-41, when Dalton Bolon knocked down another 3-pointer as the first half clock ticked past the 3-minute mark before the Hilltoppers settled for an 87-51 advantage at the half.
    Howlett rested his starters for most of the second half – no West Liberty player saw more than 23 minutes of court time – but the lead stretched as high as 57 points, 154-97, in the waning seconds.
    The 158 points were a school and conference record. The Hilltoppers also set school and conference records with 64 field goals and set a conference record with 102 field goal attempts.
    "This brought back memories of my redshirt freshman year when we had several games like this," Primmer said with a smile, "but tonight was something special. This was a great night for West Liberty basketball."
    Bolon scored a career-high 31 points in just 17 minutes, knocking down 11-of-15 shots from the floor and 5-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc to pace eight double-figure scorers for the hosts. Along with Primmer's 22 points, Will Yoakum and Ariel Watson added 19 and 18 points, respectively, while Marlon Moore posted another double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
    Hill chipped in with a dozen points and 8 assists. Eric Meininger just missed a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds while Nick Greely rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
    "Everyone shot the ball well tonight but that's because everyone was getting great looks with the way we were moving the ball and moving ourselves without the ball," Howlett said. "It was just a great effort on our guys' part tonight."
    Kalin Johnson led five double-figure scorers for Glenville State with 29 points.
    The Hilltoppers make their first MEC road trip on Monday with a 7:30 p.m. game at West Virginia Wesleyan.