SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The No. 10-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team led by as many as 19 points in the second half here Sunday in handing Notre Dame (Ohio) its first Mountain East Conference loss of the season, 103-93, at Murphy Gymnasium.
    It was the sixth straight win for Coach Ben Howlett's surging Hilltoppers (6-1, 4-0), who shot better than 50 percent from the floor (37-of-66, .561) for the sixth consecutive game to snap the Falcons' (6-2, 3-1) four-game winning streak.
    West Liberty led for all but about 90 seconds of the first half but Notre Dame was able to stay in contact with some hot shooting of its own from the charity stripe. The Falcons hit 20-of-23 free throws in the first half alone and trailed just 49-45 at intermission.
    The Hilltoppers' depth and defensive pressure began paying dividends when play resumed with a 15-2 spurt over a 3-minute span turning a 6-point West Liberty lead into a 19-point bulge.
    Two free throws by redshirt freshman Will Yoakum capped the run, giving WLU a commanding 83-64 advantage with 11:10 remaining.
    Led by returning All-American Will Vorhees and junior transfer Larenz Thurman, Notre Dame chipped away at the margin and got the deficit down to 91-85 on a Thurman 3-pointer with 3:20 to go.
    Any hopes of a comeback faded quickly as WLU senior Eric Meininger – who had battled foul trouble throughout – found a wide-open Yoakum on the wing for a dagger of a 3-pointer to make it 94-85. The Black and Gold made their free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
    Sophomore standout Dalton Bolon hit 6 3-pointers and led all scorers with a game-high 29 points. Yoakum teamed with Bolon to form a lethal 1-2 punch the West Liberty backcourt, pumping in 17 of his career-high 26 points in the second half.
    Marlon Moore came up big with 11 points off the bench in relief of Meininger, who sat out the last 10 minutes of the first half with three personal fouls. The senior forward still checked off plenty of boxes on the stat sheet with 8 points, 6 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists.
    With Moore leading the way, the Hilltoppers' depth was a huge factor in the victory as WLU posted a whopping 29-3 advantage in points off the bench.
    Thurman led the hosts with 28 points while Vorhees finished with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Halil Parks added 21 points in a losing cause.
    West Liberty will be back in the ASRC on Wednesday for another crucial MEC test against Shepherd. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.