Men's Basketball | 3/8/2020 9:26:00 PM

    WHEELING, W.Va. – No. 11-ranked West Liberty turned "Mission Impossible" into "Mission Accomplished" here Sunday night with a convincing 73-60 victory against regionally-ranked Charleston in the championship game of the Mountain East Conference Tournament at WesBanco Arena.
    It was an historic win for Coach Ben Howlett's streaking Hilltoppers (27-4), who became the first MEC team ever to sweep the league's regular-season and tournament championships in the same season.
    "After losing in the championship game here a year ago, we wanted this one really bad," Howlett said. "That loss lingered with our returning guys all season so we said from the start this week that we had come to Wheeling on a three-day mission. I'm really proud of these guys for rising to the challenge."
    West Liberty, winners of 10 straight and 21 of its last 22, has won 11 of the last 14 national scoring titles and is once again leading the nation in scoring but Sunday's championship game was won at the other end of the floor.
    Trailing 21-17 after the Golden Eagles (25-6) converted a fast break hoop with 9:31 left in the opening half, the Hilltopper defense went into lockdown mode – holding Charleston to just one field goal over the final 9 ½ minutes of the first half.
    Sophomore Will Yoakum got things started with a steal and layup out of WLU's full-court press and junior forward Marlon Moore Jr. stepped into the spotlight.
    Moore tied it with a 10-foot fadeaway jumper and then put West Liberty ahead to stay, 24-21, with a rainbow 3-pointer as the clock neared the 5-minute mark.
    The Hilltoppers were far from finished. Yoakum – who would be voted Tournament MVP – brought the partisan West Liberty crowd to its feet with a rim-rocking dunk off another Charleston turnover and Moore tacked on two more free throws after a Golden Eagle player committed a flagrant foul to prevent another breakaway jam.
    After junior guard Luke Dyer dropped in a 15-footer, completing a 13-0 WLU run and pushing the lead to 30-21, UC finally ended its scoring drought with a Devon Robinson hoop. There was little time for celebration, however, as Moore drained another high-arching 3-pointer from the top of the circle for a 33-23 West Liberty advantage.
    The Hilltoppers carried a 35-25 lead into the locker room at intermission and led by as many as 16 points throughout the second half. Charleston never got the margin under nine points the rest of the night.
    "Marlon was huge tonight," Howlett said. "He gave us a great lift in the press and in our half-court defense. He made shots. He blocked shots. He pulled tough rebounds against a very talented, physical team. I'm incredibly proud of Marlon. That's the best I've ever seen him play."
    Moore finished with a game-high – and career-high 24 points – while also being charted with 5 blocks, 5 rebounds and a pair of steals along with numerous deflections on post-entry passes but he had plenty of support.
    Pat Robinson III – another All-Tournament Team selection – went 3-for-3 from the 3-point arc and finished with 21 points while Yoakum posted his third straight double-figure scoring night with 11 points while holding first-team All-MEC forward Devon Robinson to just six points.
    "It was a good three games for me overall," Yoakum said. "Tonight was a little bit of a struggle offensively but I just focused on setting more screens for my teammates and doing whatever it took to get the win."
    Charleston, which came into the game averaging more than 80 points a night and ranked No. 7 nationally in field goal percentage, shot just 36 percent (21-of-58) from the floor in scoring a season-low 60 points.
    "The key to the game tonight was our half-court defense," Howlett said. "That's the best half-court defense we've played all season. Charleston is one of the best offensive teams in the country and we were really making it hard for them to get good shots in the second half."
    Seth O'Neal and Drew Rackley paced the Golden Eagles with 22 and 14 points, respectively. Robinson finished with a game-high 14 rebounds in a losing cause.
    There's a chance the teams could meet again later this week as West Liberty earned the MEC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and Charleston is almost certain to earn a bid after coming into the week ranked No. 3 in the Atlantic Region.
    Howlett and his Hilltoppers are looking forward to playing some more basketball.
    "I've said all year that we are a young basketball team that will improve as the season goes on," Howlett said, "and I still think we're getting better. We had to play some really good basketball to win this championship. I really hope we have some more wins in us."