INDIANA, Pa. – West Virginia State outscored West Liberty, 11-2, over the final three minutes of overtime here Saturday to shock the nation's No. 2-ranked team, 103-94, in an NCAA Division II Atlantic Region quarterfinal at the Kovalchick Center on the campus of Indiana (Pa.) University.
    The No. 7-seeded Yellowjackets (24-7) avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Hilltoppers (29-3) and moved on to play No. 3 seed California, Pa. (24-9) in Sunday's 5 p.m. regional semifinal. The Vulcans throttled No. 6 seed Fairmont State, 95-74, in Saturday's opening quarterfinal.
    "Not a pretty game for us at all," WLU head coach Ben Howlett said. "We were just kind of sloppy all the way around. We didn't shoot the ball well. (It's) Hard to win games when you go 7-of-35 from 'three' and 11-of-17 from the foul line. State hurt us on the offensive boards, especially in the second half. Not just getting offensive rebounds but capitalizing on them with second- and third-chance layups. That will get you beat in March."    
    West Liberty led for most of the first half, pushing the margin as high as 10 points on a couple of occasions, but State battled back to trail just 46-42 at the half.
    The Hilltoppers continued to hold the Yellowjackets at bay when play resumed and seemed on the verge of creating some significant separation when a Pat Robinson 3-pointer and a Bryce Butler put-back opened up a 71-62 West Liberty lead with 11:21 to play.
    "We did some things today that were very uncharacteristic of us," Howlett said. "Whenever we're able to open up a lead in the second half, we pride ourselves on putting teams away. We had that opportunity today but we turned the ball over and struggled to guard them one-on-one and State was right back in it. That was probably the turning point of the game."
    Five straight Yellowjacket layups, two on fast breaks off turnovers and two on offensive rebounds, gave WVSU its first lead of the half, 73-72, and the teams basically traded leads the rest of the way.
    West Liberty nearly won it in regulation. Leading 88-86 with less than a minute to play, the Hilltoppers forced a turnover near midcourt and got the ball back with only 48 seconds remaining. State came up with a strong defensive possession, forcing an off-balance shot just ahead of the shot clock horn.
    Opting not to call a timeout, State brought the ball into the frontcourt and Glen Abram – who had a monster game for the Yellowjackets – drove into the lane and drew contact with Bryce Butler, who was attempting to draw a charge. The call went against Butler and Abram sank both free throws to send the game into overtime.
    West Liberty had made just 7-of-28 shots from the 3-point arc during regulation and that cold shooting came home to roost in the extra frame. A Butler layup made it 92-92 as the clock ticked past the 3-minute mark but that's when the wheels came off for the WLU season. The Hilltoppers missed their next five shots while State was reeling off six unanswered points for a 98-92 lead with only 34 seconds to play.
    Robinson got to the rim for a quick layup but it was too little, too late as WLU never scored again. After going 0-for-7 from the 3-point arc in overtime, West Liberty shot just 7-of-35 for the game.
    Robinson scored 17 of his game-high 29 points after halftime while Butler stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Will Yoakum added 15 points and Viktor Kovacevic chipped in with 11 rebounds to go along with 8 points.
    All five starters hit double-figures for State. Abram led the way with 26 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds while Noah Jordan had a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jeremiah Moore also had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds with Dwaine Jones contributing 16 points. Battling foul trouble throughout the game, Anthony Pittman had 15 points and 9 rebounds – all after halftime.
    "I'm very proud of this group for the way they stood by each other through all the challenges," Howlett said. "They always had each other's backs and have been a great bunch to coach.
    "I'm upset with myself because the standard of coaching at West Liberty is winning games in the NCAA Tournament. That's my job and we failed to meet that standard today. We'll go back to the drawing board, bring in some new pieces and do everything we can to make sure this does not happen again."