WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – No. 18-ranked Fairmont State battled back from a 19-point deficit here Saturday night to stun No. 8 West Liberty, 100-97, inside the ASRC.
    The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (14-2, 8-2), who led by as many as 19 points in the second half only to see the hot-shooting Falcons (13-2, 8-2) come roaring down the stretch.
    West Liberty maintained total control of the proceedings from the opening tap until well into the second 20 minutes of action. The Hilltoppers opened up a double-digit lead midway through the first half and led by as many as 18 points before settling for a 55-40 edge at the break.
    The margin hit 19 points on multiple occasions after intermission. When Bryce Butler got a reverse layup to go, restoring the 19-point margin at 77-58 with only 12:44 left to play, West Liberty seemed well on its way to an 11th straight win.
    Unfortunately for the hosts, that final 12:44 was an exercise in frustration.
    "We played a really good first half, one of our better halves this season," Howlett said. "We were sharing the basketball, making the extra pass and getting on the glass. But as well as we played in the first half, that's how badly I think we played in the second."
    Scoring on nearly every possession, the Falcons began to chip away at the deficit.
    West Liberty still led, 84-72, following a Zach Rasile layup as the game clock ticked under 9 minutes but Fairmont's Briggs Parris drained his fourth 3-pointer of the night to cap a 12-3 FSU surge and cut the lead to a single point, 87-86, with just over 4 minutes to play.
    Isaiah Sanders hit the front end of a 2-shot foul with 2:16 left to produce the game's first tie since early in the opening half, 92-92. Viktor Kovacevic, forced to sit out most of the second half with foul problems, wrapped a basket and a free throw around two more charity tosses from Sanders for a 95-94 WLU lead with 1:05 on the clock.
    That final minute wasn't kind to the Black and Gold. After Zyon Dobbs banked in a runner to give Fairmont its first lead of the second half, 96-95, with 40 seconds to play, the Hilltoppers turned the ball over without a shot on their next two possessions.
    Sanders and George Mangas each went 1-for-2 from the line after being fouled, keeping it a one-possession game at 98-95 with 9 seconds to go. Fairmont fouled Pat Robinson before he could attempt a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left and the All-Region guard made both free throws, cutting the lead to 98-97.
    After being fouled to stop the clock, Sanders splashed home two more charity tosses for a 100-97 FSU lead and the Hilltoppers were unable to get off a 3-point try at the buzzer.
    "Give Fairmont credit," Howlett said. "Down 19 points on the road with 12 minutes to go, most teams would have crumbled. They just spread us out, lowered their shoulder and powered their way to the rim. They got some very tough shots to go down and we just couldn't get stops when we needed them."
    Butler led West Liberty with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds while Kovacevic – who fueled WLU's fast start with four 3-pointers in the game's first five minutes – added 19 points. Marlon Moore came up big off the bench with 18 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks while Robinson finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
    Dobbs and Sanders formed a lethal 1-2 punch for the visitors. Dobbs checked off a lot of boxes with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Sanders added 24 points, highlighted by an 11-for-13 showing from the foul line, and Cole VonHandorf chipped in with 16 points. Briggs' four 3-pointers gave him a dozen points while Seth Younkin had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Mangas chimed in with 10 points.
    Fairmont shot a blistering 63 percent (20-of-32) from the floor in the second half and 57 percent (33-of-58) for the game but the Falcons' biggest advantage came at the charity stripe where the visitors made 25-of-33 free throws on the night, including 17-of-21 in the second half.
    West Liberty, which didn't shoot a free throw in the second half until the last minute of the game, finished just 6-of-9 from the stripe on the evening.
    "You can put this one on me," Howlett said. "Maybe we got too comfortable when we got the big lead and let up a little bit. I don't know but I do know we're not going to hang our heads and feel sorry for ourselves. We've lost games in the past and came back even stronger because of what we learned. We'll watch film from this game and get better from it."
    The Hilltoppers return to action on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at Alderson Broaddus.