WHEELING, W.Va. – The No 5-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team held off a determined Concord squad, 88-84, here Saturday in a Mountain East Conference Tournament semifinal at WesBanco Arena.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (26-3) will try to become the first team ever to win the MEC regular-season and tournament titles in the same year Sunday at 4 p.m. when they meet No. 3 seed Notre Dame (22-8) in the championship game. The Falcons thumped No. 2 seed Fairmont State, 85-67, in Saturday's late semifinal.
    This was the third meeting of the season between WLU and the Mountain Lions (20-10) and the third time the battle went right down to the wire.
    Although the Hilltoppers never trailed after taking a 10-6 lead on back-to-back Yahel Hill 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the game, the Black and Gold never led by more than seven points at any juncture in a true nail-biter.
    "This was the hardest-fought game we've had all season," Howlett said. "Every shot was challenged, every loose ball was contested. That was two really good college basketball teams going full out for 40 minutes and I'm really proud of our guys for coming out on top."
    West Liberty carried a 78-71 lead into the final three minutes when Concord mounted its final run.
    Jair Rodgers dropped in a pair of free throws after a Hilltopper was whistled for an intentional foul and Tommy Bolte drained a 3-pointer off the extra possession, trimming the margin to 78-76 with 2:32 to go.
    Bolte – a two-time All-MEC standout – gave West Liberty fits all night, pouring in 28 of his game-high 32 points in the second half.
    Eric Meininger answered at the other end for WLU with a drive to the rack but a pair of Bolte free throws followed by a twisting drive to the hoop forged the game's final tie, 80-80, with 1:28 remaining.
    West Liberty went back on top, 82-80, on a pair of Dalton Bolon free throws with 1:13 to play and the Hilltopper defense followed with a huge stop via a Luke Dyer steal. Dyer was fouled immediately and cashed in two more free throws for an 84-80 lead with 39 seconds remaining.
    Rodgers flipped in a 10-foot jumper for Concord and West Liberty's Eric Meininger went 1-for-2 from the line to make it 85-82 with 25 seconds left.
    The Mountain Lions tried to work for a tying 3-point shot but the stifling Hilltopper defense protected the arc. With Dyer in his face, Bolte had to force up an air ball as the clock ticked under 10 seconds and the Hilltoppers closed out the win at the foul line.
    "Tommy Bolte is one of the best players I've ever seen in this conference," Howlett said, "but I think we finally wore him down a little with the double-teams we ran at him thanks to my assistant coaches. We got a couple of big stops when we really needed them."
    Meininger, the Hilltoppers' lone senior starter, came up big with 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Black and Gold but that came as no surprise to Howlett.
    "Eric was just unbelievable today," Howlett said. "The reason we're sitting here is because he just wouldn't let us lose. He's had a phenomenal senior season and is a huge part of our success."
    Bolon fought through a tough shooting night to also post a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while West Liberty's freshman guard tandem of Will Yoakum and Yahel Hill once again proved more than ready for prime time. Yoakum added 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals while Hill drained three big 3-point field goals to match Yoakum's 18-point output.
    Rodgers backed Bolte with 6 3-pointers and 28 points for Concord. Malik Johnson added 10 points and 8 rebounds in a losing cause.
    "I think it's harder to win a regular season championship than to win a tournament championship," Howlett said, "but winning both in the same season is incredibly tough. We have a chance to do that tomorrow but we're going to have to beat another really good basketball team in order to do that."