Men's Basketball | 11/23/2019 6:18:00 PM

Box Score     URBANA, Ohio – The No. 16-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team cruised to a 101-76 victory against Urbana here Saturday in a mutual Mountain East Conference opener at the Grimes Center.
    Coach Ben Howlett's two-time defending MEC champion Hilltoppers (4-1, 1-0) came up with 20 steals and forced 25 turnovers in upping their all-time record to 15-0 against the Blue Knights (1-4, 0-1).
    A pair of Dalton Bolon free throws gave West Liberty its first 20-point lead, 46-26, at 2:57 of the opening half. Urbana battled back to trail just 51-42 at the break but the Black and Gold quickly restored their double-digit advantage when play resumed.
    The margin never dropped below 20 points in the final 10 minutes and reached 30 points, 99-69, on a Bryce Butler layup as the clock ticked past the 2-minute mark.
    Bolon tossed in a game-high 25 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 steals in just 23 minutes of playing time to lead the way but the junior All-American got plenty of support.
    Pat Robinson III backed Bolon with 19 points in only 19 minutes while Malik McKinney added 14 points and Preston Boswell donated a dozen in a game that saw no Hilltopper log more than 23 minutes on the court.
    Tehree Horn and Mario Lacy had 18 points each for Urbana while Kyle Kegley impressed with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks.
    The Hilltoppers close out their pre-Thanksgiving schedule on Tuesday when they welcome Notre Dame to the ASRC for a rematch of last season's MEC Tournament championship game. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.