West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 3 West Liberty University men's basketball team will play their third consecutive home game to open the 2023-24 season on Wednesday night as they welcome Chestnut Hill to the ASRC. The Hilltoppers and Griffins will match-up at 7:30 p.m. in the first-ever meeting between the two teams on the hardwood.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Center "ASRC")
• Tip-Off: 7:30 P.M.

#3 WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty opened the 2023-24 season with a pair of convincing wins over PSAC foes, beating Shippensburg 121-59 and Seton Hill 101-67.
• In the win over the Griffins on Saturday, WLU broke a school record with 26 steals in the contest.
• After the opening weekend of play the Hilltoppers lead NCAA Division II in assists per game (28.5), bench points per game (57.50), turnover margin (+18.0), and turnovers forced per game (28.50).
• Since 2010 the Black & Gold have posted the best overall winning percentage in NCAA basketball (409-50, .891) and have the best home winning percentage 221-10 (.957). Saturday's win over SHU marked the Hilltoppers 300^th inside the ASRC for the men's basketball program since the building opened for the 2000-01 season.
• West Liberty enters the week ranked at No. 3 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll, and moved up to No. 1 in the D2CSC Media Poll compiled by DII Sports Information Directors.
• Through two games WLU is averaging 111.0 points, 43.5 rebounds, 28.5 assists, 20.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 50.3 percent from the field, 34.1 percent from 3-point range, and 68.3 percent from the free throw line.
• A total of seven players for the Hilltoppers are averaging double figures in scoring following the first pair of games, led by John Korte with 14.5 points and Dante Spadafora with 14.0 points per game.
• In his first games in the Black & Gold, Korte added a team-high 5.5 rebounds to go along with 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
• Spadafora shot the ball 8-of-13 (61.5 %) from beyond the arc and added a team-high 5.0 steals per game, as well as 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
• Christian Montague dished out a team-high 6.5 assists per game in the first games of the year as he also added 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.5 steals.
• Ben Howlett enters his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 163-25 (.867) with the Hilltoppers. He holds the best winning percentage of coaches with a minimum of five years of experience across all NCAA divisions.

CHESTNUT HILL STORYLINES

• Chestnut Hill opened the 2023-24 season 0-2 in a pair of East Region Challenge games in Amherst, New York, where they fell 88-50 to Daemen and 81-75 to Roberts Wesleyan.
• After a 16-14 (9-8 ECAC) record in 2022-23, the Griffins were picked to finish this season sixth place in the South Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).
• In the first two games of the season CHC averaged 62.5 points, 35.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 4.0 steals, and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting the ball 37.3 percent from the field, 32.5 percent from 3-point range, and 66.7 percent from the free throw line.
• Adam Angwafo and Alejandro Redondo Cybak are the lone players to average double figure points for the Griffins with 18.5 and 11.5 points per game respectively.
• Redondo Cybak averaged a double-double in the opening weekend as he added a team-high 10.0 rebounds per game to his 11.5 points per game.
• Angwafo adds 5.5 rebounds and a team-high 2.0 blocks per game for Chestnut Hill.
• Neah Hill is averaging 7.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and a team-high 2.5 assists per game, to go along with 1.5 blocks per game.
• Andrew Radomicki is in his first season as the head coach at Chestnut Hill and has a career record of 0-2 following the first weekend of action.

SERIES HISTORY

• Wednesday marks the first-ever meeting between West Liberty and Chestnut Hill in men's basketball.