WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 7-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team took control with a huge first-half run and led by as many as 27 points down the stretch here Wednesday in coasting to a 77-64 win against West Virginia Wesleyan at the ASRC.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (21-3, 17-2) moved within one win of clinching their second straight Mountain East Conference title and the ninth league crown in the past 10 seasons while completing a season sweep of the Bobcats (10-15, 7-12).
    "I thought over the last 12 minutes of the first half, we were really good," Howlett said. "We shared the ball really well and shot a really high percentage with most of those shots coming off the pass. We played pretty well early in the second half, as well, but let ourselves get sloppy again at the end."
    Working against the Wesleyan zone, the Hilltoppers led just 23-22 at 6:51 of the first half when the visitors' Fred Brondsted drained a 3-pointer but Evan French and Yahel Hill wrapped 3-point bombs around a Marlon Moore follow shot and West Liberty had momentum heading into the final 5 minutes.
    Wesleyan's Clay Todd tried to stop the bleeding with a short jumper but West Liberty reeled off 15 unanswered points, capped by another Hill 3-pointer with under a minute on the first half clock, for a 46-24 lead.
    The Bobcats' Adam Horton hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 46-29 at the half but WLU picked up where it had left off when play resumed, pushing the margin out to 60-33 and the teams spent the final 14 minutes playing out the string.
    "I'm proud of the way we responded after the loss to Charleston on Saturday," Howlett said. "We had really good energy in practice the last couple of days and I thought we had some guys really step up.
    "Evan French is still limited a bit by his knee but he hit some big shots while Marlon Moore gave us a double-double in just 18 minutes. Marlon pulled some pretty high-level rebounds and when he's playing with energy and focus like he was tonight, he can be a major contributor."
    Dalton Bolon led four double-figure scorers with 16 points with French and Hill adding 14 and 13 points, respectively. Moore finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds while senior Eric Meininger quietly donated 5 points, 7 rebounds and a game-high 6 assists.
    "I'm really comfortable having a guy like Eric out there making decisions in the middle of the offense," Howlett said. "He's a great passer who makes great decisions and a big part of our offense."
    Dusan Vicentic and Brondsted paced Wesleyan with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Luka Petrovic added 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
    The Hilltoppers will try to lock up another MEC championship on Saturday when they head to Glenville State for a 4 p.m. tipoff at the Waco Center.