WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's basketball team has moved up a spot to #4 in the NABC national rankings this week and is set to get back on the hardwood tonight at Charleston.

THE BASICS
December 7, 2022 | 7:30 pm | Wehrle Innovation Center (Charleston, W.Va.)
#4 West Liberty (7-0, 4-0 MEC) vs. Charleston (4-4, 3-1 MEC)
Live stats and video links can be viewed here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty has went over the century mark in all four Mountain East Conference games rolling to a 4-0 start in the league. The 'Toppers are coming off a 101-64 triumph over Davis & Elkins on the road this past Saturday in which five players reached double figures. WLU's only other road game was the conference opener at Alderson Broaddus, which they won 110-84. West Liberty is one of 17 teams left undefeated in DII.
 
The Hilltoppers lead the conference in an astounding 12 stat categories highlighted by a #1 national ranking in scoring offense (102.4), assists per game (25.3), three-point attempts per game (36.7), and turnover margin (+10.3). West Liberty is allowing a conference-low 73.4 points per game for an average win margin of 29.
 
Bryce Butler leads a group of six players averaging double digits and is second in the conference at 21.9 points per game. Steve Cannady (14.0), Christian Montague (11.3), Zach Rasile (11.3), Ben Sarson (11.1), and Malik McKinney (10.4) round out the hexad.
 
Butler is also atop the team leaderboard on the glass, at 7.3 per game. He has scored 20+ in five of the seven games including a pair of 30-point games at the start of the season. The junior guard has two double-doubles and dished out multiple assists in six of the seven games so far.
 
Cannady owns the fourth best assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation at 5.40, with an average of 3.9 assists per game. He also has 16 three pointers, one of four 'Toppers with 15-plus on the season. Rasile leads the squad with 19 triples, while Montague is draining 53.1% of his long balls (17-for-32). Montague also leads the team with an average of 4.1 assists per game. Sarson has hit multiple threes in three straight games, all of which he has scored double digits, bringing his season total to 15 triples.


THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Charleston has an even 4-4 record, after dropping a pair in the MEC/PSAC Challenge to Lock Haven and Pitt-Johnstown the Golden Eagles have gone 4-2. The lone loss in conference play came last Wednesday at nationally ranked Fairmont State (74-61). UC reached 100 points for the first time this season in its last outing, a 104-64 blowout victory over Frostburg State improving the Golden Eagles to 3-0 in the Wehrle Innovation Center.
 
The Golden Eagles are second in the league, behind WLU, in defense allowing 73.6 points per game. They foul the least in the MEC and have the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.20). Charleston is scoring 77.9 points per game offensively and shooting the rock at a 46.7% rate from the field and 34.7% clip from deep.
 
A 6'6" junior forward Eddie Colbert III (13.6 ppg / 7.6 rpg) and 6'7" sophomore forward Tyler Eberhart (12.6 ppg / 8.0 rpg) lead the Golden Eagles offensively, also ranking third and fourth in the MEC on the glass. Eberhart is third in the conference in field goal percentage at 59.4% as well. Senior guard Keith Williams adds 12.4 points per game, while Keaton Turner is shooting 46.9% from beyond the arc. Junior guard Jeremiah Keene bolsters that second-best assist-to-turnover ratio with a team-leading 32 assists.

THE SERIES
Charleston has the edge all time (60-51) in a series that began in the 1928-29 season with a 39-36 Hilltopper win, but West Liberty has controlled it lately winning 18 of the 24 matchups since the debut of the MEC. WLU has won each of the last four matchups, all by double digits, and seven of the last 10 in Charleston. Last season, the Hilltoppers downed the Golden Eagles in the MEC Tournament championship game, 70-59, for their third MEC Tournament title.

NEXT UP
West Liberty returns to the hilltop for its next action on Saturday against #21 West Virginia State. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

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