WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The surging West Liberty University men's basketball team ripped the nets for 83 first-half points here Saturday and crushed Glenville State, 129-89, in a meeting of teams tied for first place in the Mountain East Conference.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (11-3, 6-2) drained a dozen 3-pointers and forced 17 turnovers in the first half alone to open up an insurmountable 83-51 lead at intermission. They led the outgunned Pioneers (8-6, 5-3) by as many as 46 points in the second half in sprinting past the century mark for the fifth consecutive game.
    It was the 10th 100-point game of the season for WLU, which is scoring at a 110.6 ppg. clip during its five-game win streak while outscoring its opponents by an average of 37 points a night.
    "That first half might be the best we've played all season," Howlett said. "I challenged our guys before the game that we hadn't had a lot of 'blackouts' lately and I think we had two or three in the first half.
    "We shared the ball extremely well, had great spacing and took care of the basketball. We talk about making one more pass to turn down a good shot for a great shot and you saw a lot of that today."
    Glenville was able to run with the Hilltoppers for the first few minutes, trailing just 17-15 at the 14-minute mark, but West Liberty's relentless pressure and sizzling shooting was too much for the Pioneers to overcome.
    An Owen Hazelbaker 3-pointer pushed the lead to 39-21 at the 10-minute mark and the Hilltoppers seemed to find another gear. The margin hit 30 points, 62-32, on a Will Yoakum 3-pointer as the clock ticked under 5 minutes and the Hilltoppers never took their foot off the gas.
    Yoakum – the 2019 MEC Freshman of the Year – had a monster game. The 6-5 wing drained 6-of-7 3-point shots in the first half and had a career high 28 points by intermission. He finished with a new career high of 33 points in just 25 minutes of action.
    "The guys on the bench did a good job of keeping me updated on the points," Yoakum said with a smile. "Malik (McKinney) was great tonight. There were several times he'd come up with a steal and find me for a wide-open transition three. My teammates kept getting me great looks. All I had to do was knock down the shot."
    McKinney, a sophomore transfer from Seton Hill, continues to emerge as a major force in West Liberty's smothering full-court press. The 6-4 guard tossed in a season-high 20 points on Saturday but it was the 4 steals and 6 assists – both game-highs – that caught Howlett's eye.
    "Will was great and Malik was incredible tonight," Howlett said. "It just seemed like Malik was everywhere. He gets steals and deflections off the press, makes great passes and it seems like he comes up with every loose ball."
    Pat Robinson III added 18 points off the bench while Dalton Bolon just missed another double-double with 14 points and a game-high 9 rebounds. Hazelbaker rounded out the double-figure scorers with a dozen points.
    Phil Bledsoe and Steve Verplancken paced the Pioneers with 23 and 20 points, respectively.
    "I said from the start that we were a very young team that would get better as the season went along and I think we're starting to see that now," Howlett said. "Our passing and decision-making is so much better now but the thing I really liked tonight is that we didn't get sloppy and fall back into bad habits once we got the big lead.
    "We had 16 assists and 4 turnovers in the first half, which is a great ratio. In the second half, we had 11 assists on 19 baskets and only turned the ball over twice. If you can finish a game with 27 assists and 6 turnovers, there's a pretty good chance you're going to win."
    The Hilltoppers have another key MEC matchup on deck with rival Fairmont State scheduled to hit the ASRC hardwood on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.