INDIANA, Pa. – Senior center Eric Meininger scored five points in the final 16 seconds here Sunday as No. 9 West Liberty edged No. 13 Virginia State, 82-80, in an NCAA Division II Atlantic Region semifinal at the Kovalchick Center on the campus of Indiana (Pa.) University.
    Advancing to the regional final for the eighth time in the past 10 years, Coach Ben Howlett's No. 2-seeded Hilltoppers (28-4) will take on No. 4-seed Mercyhurst (25-6), which shocked top-seeded and No. 2-ranked host Indiana (Pa.), 75-65, in Sunday's other regional semifinal.
    Tipoff for Tuesday night's "Sweet 16" showdown is set for 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight March 27-30 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
    West Liberty never held the lead until the final four minutes of Sunday's nail-biter as the CIAA champion Trojans (28-5) proved to be a tough nut to crack, which came as no surprise to Howlett.
    "I am so proud of my guys for the way they fought their way back into this game," Howlett said. "Going down by nine (points) in the second half against a team as good as Virginia State, a lot of teams would have folded but we found a way to get it done."
    After trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half and facing a 9-point deficit midway through the second half with VSU shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor, the Hilltoppers made a defensive adjustment that seemed to provide a spark.
    Trailing 71-63 with just under 8 minutes to play, West Liberty maintained its full court pressure but dropped back into a zone defense in the half-court instead of its traditional man-to-man look.
    Virginia State struggled against the zone and was held scoreless for more than 6 minutes as the Hilltoppers battled all the way back.
    Three straight baskets by freshman Will Yoakum, the last one coming on a thread-the-needle pass from Meininger at the 3:37 mark, gave the Black and Gold their first lead of the night, 73-71.
    "We hardly ever practice the zone," Howlett said, "and we've never practiced dropping back into a zone off the press but the guys made it work and it really seemed to help get us over the hump."
    The Trojans finally broke their scoring drought with a deep 3-pointer from Jalen Jackson for a 74-73 lead with 2:44 to play but Dalton Bolon slipped a screen at the other end and took a pass from Meininger to make it 75-74 Hilltoppers with 2:17 to go.
    Luke Dyer tacked on a pair of free throws with 1:10 remaining for a 77-74 advantage but VSU got two charity tosses from Cyonte Melvin, cutting the lead to 77-76 with 39 seconds to play.
    After running the shot clock down into single digits, Meininger stepped back and drilled a 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game, 80-76, with 16 seconds remaining. The senior center had been 0-for-5 from the 3-point arc before the clutch shot.
    "They always told us that we should keep shooting with confidence no matter what," Meininger said, "and I had a great look."
    Brandon Holley gave Virginia State life with a desperation 3-pointer at the 10-second mark but Meininger swished two more free throws with 8 seconds left for an 82-79 bulge and West Liberty fouled with 2 seconds left to avoid a potential tying 3-point shot.
    "I was more nervous shooting the free throws than taking the 3-pointer," Meininger said. "I just had to clear my mind, knock them both down and get back and play defense."
    After Jackson hit the first free throw, he missed the second intentionally and the ball was knocked out of bounds with 0.8 seconds left. Holley's hurried shot at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced away.
    Bolon had a game-high 21 points to lead West Liberty while Yoakum added 16 and Meininger finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Cedric Wiggins paced five double-figure scorers for Virginia State with 14 points.