WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 10-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team shook off a little holiday rust here Wednesday night and pulled away to a 97-73 victory against Urbana in Mountain East Conference action at the ASRC.
    It was the fifth straight win for Coach Ben Howlett's surging Hilltoppers (5-1, 3-0), who held the Blue Knights (1-5, 0-3) to just 33 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
    "We were coming off a long break where we hadn't played for more than a week and I thought we came out flat tonight," Howlett said. "We were real sloppy in the first half, especially on the defensive end, but we dialed it in a little better in the second half and were able to open things up."
    Shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor in the first half, Urbana trailed just 38-37 after a Zach Bates jumper dropped with 3:16 left in the half but WLU's Dalton Bolon answered with a fast break hoop at the other end and the Hilltopper pressure began to take its toll.
    West Liberty scored 15 of the last 21 points of the half, holding the Blue Knights to just one field goal over the final three minutes while forcing five turnovers during that same span to take a 53-43 lead into the locker room at the break.
    Bolon opened the second half with a 3-point bomb and Urbana never got the margin under double-digits the rest of the way. Back-to-back conventional 3-point plays by Will Yoakum and Marlon Moore produced the game's first 20-point lead, 80-60, with just over 8 minutes remaining and the Hilltoppers led by as many as 27 points down the stretch.
    "I thought we played well offensively," Howlett said. "Our spacing was good and we shared the ball pretty well. We missed some shots we normally make but again, we just seemed a little flat tonight."
    Bolon led all scorers with a game-high 24 points while Yoakum finished with 14 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. True freshman point guard Yahel Hill added a career-high 13 points to go along with a pair of assists and a steal in 23 minutes.
    It was the sixth start for Hill, who seems to be making a seamless transition to the college game. The Cleveland native is averaging just over 9 points a game while handing out 14 assists – and committing only 2 turnovers – in 137 minutes of court time.
    "The biggest difference between high school and college is the pace of the game," Hill said. "It's a lot more up-beat, faster paced. The challenge for me is picking my spots, letting the game come to me instead of forcing things. Coach Howlett and my teammates have done a great job preparing me and it's really helped with the transition."
    Jordan Bradley had 18 points to lead four double-figure scorers for Urbana, which went just 11-of-33 from the floor – including 1-of-11 from the 3-point arc – after intermission.
    West Liberty shot over 50 percent from the floor (36-of-65, .554) for the fifth straight game while also knocking down 9-of-18 3-point shots and racking up a 44-25 rebounding advantage.
    The Hilltoppers face a tough road test on Sunday when they travel to South Euclid, Ohio to take on Notre Dame. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Murphy Gym.