WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 20-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team took control midway through the first half here Sunday and rolled to an 89-79 victory against No. 25 Charleston before a loud and raucous crowd at the ASRC.
    Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (18-4, 13-3) avenged an earlier loss to the Golden Eagles (17-5, 11-5) in impressive fashion, forcing UC into a season-high 19 turnovers and maintaining a double-digit lead for long stretches of the second half.
    "We put a huge emphasis on our press this week," Howlett said. "Charleston is an incredibly talented basketball team and we had a hard time turning them over in our first meeting. I thought our guys came out with maximum effort today in a very important game and I couldn't be prouder of them."
    It was the WLU defense that broke up a see-saw affair and put the hosts ahead to stay midway through the first half.
    Lamont McManus, Charleston's burly 6-7 center, muscled his way to the hoop for a 21-17 Golden Eagle lead at 11:35 of the first half but that's when the Black and Gold tightened the defensive screws.
    West Liberty held UC to just one field goal over the next five minutes. Pat Robinson capped the 16-4 surge by grabbing a defensive rebound and sailing coast-to-coast for a layup to put the Hilltoppers on top, 33-24, with 6:46 left in the half.
    The lead hit double-figures, 44-34, just before intermission and Charleston found itself on the short end of a 44-37 tally at the half.
    West Liberty quickly pushed the lead back out to double figures when play resumed but the Golden Eagles weren't finished. Trailing 60-47 as the clock ticked under 12 minutes, Charleston scored 13 of the game's next 17 points to get back in the game.
    A pair of McManus free throws closed the gap to 64-60 with 7:38 to go. West Liberty strung together three straight stops to restore the double-digit lead, 71-61, but it took one final WLU burst to put the game on ice.
    Leading 73-66 with just under 5 minutes to play, Luke Dyer drained a 10-foot jumper from the side for a 75-66 margin and the Hilltopper defense went to work.
    Will Yoakum came up with a steal at midcourt and fed Malik McKinney for a breakaway layup to make it 77-66. McKinney – a sophomore transfer making his first start of the season – forced another turnover with a diving back-tap on the press and Yoakum found Pat Robinson for a 3-point dagger than nearly brought the house down.
    "It was crazy in here tonight," McKinney said. "When Pat hit that three after that steal, I couldn't hear myself think. What a great crowd and what an atmosphere."
    Robinson's bomb opened up an 80-66 lead with just 4:04 to play and the Golden Eagles never threatened again.
    Robinson led a balanced West Liberty attack with 22 points while Yoakum and McKinney added 17 and 15 points, respectively. Dalton Bolon notched another double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
    Drew Rackley scored 19 of his game-high 33 points in the second half for Charleston while McManus added 18 points and Seth O'Neal chipped in with 10 tallies.
    The Hilltoppers hit the road on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game at Glenville State.