November 29, 2011 (Men's Basketball)
(With this year's intercollegiate athletic seasons put on hold due to health concerns, let's take a look back at previous Hilltopper happenings on this date. Nine years ago, the nationally-ranked WLU men's basketball team pulled out a big overtime win at Fairmont behind a Chris Morrow double-double.)
FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The No. 14-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team came from behind to force overtime and then dominated the extra period Tuesday night in a 103-97 victory at Fairmont State.
Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (5-1, 3-0) never led in the final 6 minutes of regulation but a
Nick Brown 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining knotted the score at 83-83 to complete the comeback. Defense ruled the final seconds and neither team scored again, sending the game into overtime.
Tim Hausfeld put West Liberty ahead to stay, 88-85, with a long 3-pointer at 3:39 of the overtime period and the Hilltoppers never looked back.
After Isaac Thornton answered for the Falcons (0-3, 0-2) with a drive to the rack at 3:16, WLU's
Cedric Harris squirted down the lane for a conventional 3-point play to put the visitors up, 91-87.
Harris then came up with a steal at the other end and found Brown in transition for a layup that made it 93-87 with 2:06 remaining.
Fairmont misfired on a jumper and Brown added a pair of free throws after being fouled on the rebound for a 95-87 lead.
The Falcons' Steve Custis tried to keep the hosts in the game with a 3-pointer at 1:32, trimming the lead to 95-90, but Hausfeld drained a 28-foot dagger of a 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining to put the game out of reach.
Chris Morrow led six double-figure scorers for West Liberty with 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 6 blocked shots before fouling out in the first minute of overtime.
Harris and
Shawn Dyer each finished with 18 points and a game-high 6 assists while
Alex Falk and Brown chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Hausfeld also had 12 points – all coming after intermission – on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.
Greg Hunt had a game-high 21 points for Fairmont while Custis added 19. Chris Thompson had 18 points and a dozen rebounds while Thornton also finished with 18 points in a losing cause.
West Liberty returns to action Thursday night with an 8 p.m. game at unbeaten Charleston (6-0).
GAME NOTES
X The teams combined for 54 personal fouls and 79 free throws. The Falcons were 29-of-46 from the charity stripe while WLU hit 25-of-33.
X Fairmont rallied to force a 45-45 tie at halftime after trailing by as many as 14 points midway through the period
X Crutchfield improved to 16-1 in his career against Fairmont State
X The Hilltoppers have won 53 of their last 54 WVIAC contests, dating back to the 2008-09 season
