WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 25-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team exploded for 54 points in the final 12 minutes of the first half and sprinted off to a 116-74 rout of Concord Saturday afternoon at the ASRC.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (20-4, 15-3) got a career-high 32 points from Pat Robinson III and yet another double-double from Dalton Bolon to finish off a season sweep of the outgunned Mountain Lions (8-16, 5-13).
    "Today was a lot of fun for us as a team and, to be honest, a lot of fun for me as a coach," Howlett said after seeing his Hilltoppers clinch the school's 16th straight 20-win season in impressive fashion.
    "I thought what you saw out there was West Liberty basketball to a 'T.' We had 12 assists and zero turnovers at the half and finished with 26 and 6. When we put up numbers like that, we're a pretty good basketball team."
    West Liberty struggled to find a groove in the early going and actually trailed, 17-15, after Concord's Martin Kelly broke the game's final tie with a layup at the 12:37 mark.
    The Hilltoppers took the lead for good with a Malik McKinney 3-pointer at the other end and Bolon followed with another bonus bomb off a Luke Dyer steal as the Black and Gold mashed the accelerator to the floor. West Liberty dominated the rest of the half to take a whopping 69-37 lead into the locker room and led by as many as 51 points in the second half.
    Robinson, a sophomore transfer from Holy Family (Pa.), needed only 22 minutes to rack up his 32 points as the 6-3 southpaw was a sizzling 13-of-15 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the 3-point arc.
    "With everyone on the team scoring, the driving lanes were just wide open," Robinson said. "I was just taking advantage of the opportunities my teammates created for me."
    The 6-4 Bolon, who has averaged a double-double over the past two months, notched his eighth double-double of the season and 15th of his career with 24 points – including 5 3-pointers – and 10 rebounds while dishing off a season-high 5 assists.
    "We're not the biggest team in the country so one of the ways I can help us win is by crashing the boards every time," Bolon said. "Coach subs us in spurts so we can play hard every second we're on the floor. I've just been lucky the ball's been bouncing my way lately."
    Joining Bolon and Robinson in the post-game media session was junior point guard Luke Dyer. A 3-year starter who leads the nation with an eye-popping 6.00 Assist/Turnover Ratio, Dyer handed out 7 assists, snared a game-high 4 steals and once again had zero turnovers in 25 minutes on Saturday.
    The 5-11 veteran has been charted with 35 assists – and one turnover – over his last seven games but, surrounded by a host of high-scoring teammates, hardly ever sees his name in the headlines.
    Not that it matters to him.
    "The thing I like most about basketball is winning," Dyer said. "I like seeing Coach Howlett coming back to the locker room all fired up after a big win and that's really all that matters to me. I'm all about winning. It's the best part of the game."
    The talented trio didn't lack for a supporting cast against the Mountain Lions.
    Freshman Bryce Butler impressed with 12 points and 7 assists – also with no turnovers – in 26 minutes while Malik McKinney added 11 points to go along with 3 steals and Owen Hazelbaker chipped in with 10 points and 3 steals.
    Concord got 14 points each from Kelly and Trey Brisco. David Mulumba added 11 points and 10 rebounds in a losing cause.
    Maintaining their two-game lead in the MEC chase with just four games left in the regular season, the two-time defending conference champs head to Frostburg State on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game.