WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 23-ranked West Liberty men's basketball team exploded for 68 second-half points here Wednesday night in sprinting to a 119-76 victory against Ohio County rival Wheeling inside the ASRC.
    It was the fourth straight blowout win for Coach Ben Howlett's resurgent Hilltoppers (8-3), who have won those four games by an average score of 116-76.
    The neighboring Cardinals (2-6) kept things interesting throughout the first half, draining 7-of-11 shots from behind the 3-point arc to trail just 51-45 at the half.
    West Liberty wasted no time breaking the game open when play resumed. A blurry fast 15-2 spurt made it a 20-point game, 71-51, less than four minutes into the second half but the Black and Gold was far from finished.
    The lead passed the 30-point mark at 94-63 on a Dalton Bolon 3-pointer with nearly 10 minutes left to play and rose as high as 45 points down the stretch with the WLU reserves keeping up the pace.
    West Liberty shot a blistering 61 percent (24-of-39) from the floor over the final 20 minutes, including an 8-of-15 showing from behind the 3-point arc. The Hilltoppers held a whopping 48-28 edge off the glass and once again took care of the basketball, dishing out 30 assists against just seven turnovers.
    Junior guard Pat Robinson III took game scoring honors with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor. Bolon added 19 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists – leaving him just three points shy of 2,000 for his career – while junior guard Will Yoakum finished with 15 points.
    Malik McKinney went 5-for-5 from the floor to score 11 points while Owen Hazelbaker also put 11 points in the book. Marlon Moore Jr. and Zach Rasile joined the double-figure scoring parade with 10 points each while freshman Elijah Watson fell just short of a double-double with 9 points and 9 rebounds.
    Jordan Reid led the way for Wheeling with 21 points. Jay Gentry and Jarrett Haines joined him in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
    West Liberty takes its four-game winning streak on the road Saturday when the Hilltoppers head to South Euclid, Ohio for a key MEC North Division clash against Notre Dame (Ohio). Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. in the Murphy Gymnasium.