BOWIE, Md. - The #10 ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team cruised past Bowie State today on the road, 103-78, in its non-conference finale.

Bowie State came out of the gates firing, making eight of its first nine shots to go up 18-8 just over six minutes into the game. The Hilltoppers started to chip away and scored seven straight points in 20 seconds to bring the deficit to two points at the 11 minute mark in the first half.

Two minutes later, a 12-0 run ensued for the Black and Gold to go up 32-24 and they never looked back. Chaz Hinds drained a pair of threes on the run and Ben Sarson capped off the run with a triple with just over seven minutes to play in the opening half.

The Bulldogs answered with two consecutive layups, but there was no stopping the heating-up Hilltoppers. West Liberty outscored BSU 20-8 to end the half and go to the break up 52-36. 

The Black and Gold rolled in the second half to victory, keeping it at a double-digit game the entire way. The lead got to as many as 30 with 10:34 remaining after a 9-0 run by West Liberty that featured seven points from Bryce Butler.

Butler ended the night with 23 points to lead the Hilltoppers and pulled in six rebounds. Malik McKinney and Zach Rasile had 14 points each, while Christian Montague drained three long balls finishing with 11 points. McKinney also led all players with five assists in a homecoming game. 

The Hilltoppers made 15 three pointers and held Bowie State to just five makes from deep. The Black and Gold capitalized turning the Bulldogs' 15 turnovers into 23 points.

West Liberty ends non-conference action with a 5-1 record outside of the MEC. The Hilltoppers return to conference play on Wednesday with a road trip to Concord for a 7:30 pm tip.

Follow Hilltopper basketball all season online at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Hoops | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_mbb | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.