WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 8-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team dominated from start to finish here Saturday night in racing away to a 118-74 rout of Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit at the ASRC.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (15-2, 11-1) shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor and opened up a 63-37 halftime lead against the visiting Cardinals (2-16, 1-11) before coasting to their 15^th win in their last 16 outings.
    "That was a good win for us," Howlett said. "Keegan (Saben) and Brady Arnold were really great in the press tonight. We knew (Wheeling Jesuit) was coming in here with a lot of new guys who hadn't played against our pressure and I thought it really helped us open things up early."
    The Cardinals managed to stay within range for a while but the WLU pressure began to take its toll in the latter stages of the opening half and the Hilltoppers broke the game open with a 22-7 surge over the final six minutes.
    West Liberty finished the first half with a 12-2 flourish in the last 1:52. Evan French started things off with a 3-point bomb and Arnold contributed back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute to take the lead from 51-35 to 63-37.
    "That's probably the best we've finished a first half all season," Howlett said. "We haven't done a good job of finishing but Brady knocked down a couple of tough shots and we were able to string a few stops together."
    The Cardinals never threatened the rest of the way. West Liberty hit the century mark for the ninth time this season, 100-55, on a Tyler Primmer jumper with 9:15 remaining and led by as many as 48 points down the stretch.
    Saben came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor while also handing out 3 assists and picking up several deflections in the Hilltopper press in his most extended outing of the season.
    "I felt really good out there today," he said. "Coach had me doing a lot of 3-on-3 work in practice this week and I think it helped me get back to playing the way I'm used to playing. I was a lot more comfortable on the floor."
    Dalton Bolon led all scorers with 23 points while Arnold added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Eric Meininger had 14 points and Ariel Watson added 14 points and 6 rebounds in just 9 minutes off the bench. Primmer and French added 10 points each on a night when no Hilltopper starter saw more than 18 minutes of court time.
    Steve Cannady led Wheeling Jesuit with 13 points while Brendan Hoban and DeAndre Robinson finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
    "We have a huge week coming up with a trip to Shepherd on Wednesday and Fairmont State coming in here on Saturday," Howlett said, "so we'll enjoy this win tonight but we'll be turning our full attention to a very good Shepherd team tomorrow."
    Tipoff for Wednesday night's game is set for 7:30 p.m. in Shepherdstown.