WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Pat Robinson scored a career-high 32 points and No. 18-ranked West Liberty overpowered No. 15-ranked Charleston, 82-63, Sunday night in an NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament semifinal romp at the ASRC.
     Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (17-4) took charge early against their fellow Mountain East Conference power, going ahead to stay in the first five minutes and opening up their first double-digit lead, 23-13, on a Luke Dyer 15-footer midway through the half.
     The No. 2-seeded Golden Eagles (14-4) held on for the next few minutes but a Dalton Bolon 3-pointer at 3:22 ignited a 15-5 burst that sent West Liberty into halftime with a 45-28 lead.
     Charleston, which had eked out a 78-74 regular season win against WLU, closed the gap to 48-36 on a Lamont McManus power post in the early minutes of the second half but could come no closer.
     Robinson and freshman Ben Sarson sandwiched put-backs around two more Bolon hoops in a 70-second blitz to make it 56-36 at the under-16 media timeout and UC never threatened again.
     "Our guys kind of had this one circled after (Charleston) got us on their home court early this year," Howlett said. "That's probably the best halfcourt defense we've played all year."
     A 6-3 sophomore guard, Robinson scored 18 of his 32 points in the second half with several of them coming on offensive rebounds and stick-backs. He was 8-for-11 from the floor with 7 rebounds in 14 minutes of second-half action.
     "Our spacing was really good today," Robinson said, "and that created lanes for me to get to the rack. My teammates got me the ball in great spots and I just took advantage of it."
     Robinson finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds to lead all scorers while Bolon finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds – his 101^st career double figure scoring game and 25^th double-double. Owen Hazelbaker added 11 big points off the bench on 4-for-4 shooting, including a trio of 3-point bombs.
     McManus topped Charleston with 22 points but Keith Williams was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures with 11.
     "I thought we did a good job of limiting their offensive rebounds, which was a key for us," Howlett said, "but the best thing we did was we never let them get comfortable and run their offense. They're one of the best teams in the country when they can get in their comfort zone and run their stuff so that was huge."
     The Hilltoppers will return to the ASRC Tuesday at 7 p.m. to take on top-seeded Hillsdale (21-2) for the Atlantic Region title and a berth in this month's 2021 NCAA Division II Elite Eight Championships in Evansville, Ind. The Chargers throttled unbeaten No. 4 seed Mercyhurst, 67-48, in Sunday's other regional semifinal.
     The Black and Gold have now advanced to the "Sweet 16" in nine of the last 11 seasons and will be shooting for their sixth regional title in the last 10 years.
     "We're extremely excited to have the opportunity to play for a regional championship again," Howlett said. "We told our guys in the locker room after tonight that we're one game away from Evansville. This was a really good win."
     A limited number of general admission tickets will be made available online beginning Monday at 9 a.m. The online ticket portal will be posted Monday morning on the West Liberty University athletic website – www.hilltoppersports.com – and the Atlantic Region's Tournament Central page.