West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 2 West Liberty University men's basketball team returned to the win column and protected their home court on Saturday night with a 91-89 win over West Virginia State. The Yellow Jackets took control of the game early with a 26-5 scoring run and led by as many as 15 points in the game, before the teams exchanged the lead seven times in the second half. The Hilltoppers trailed at the halftime break for the second straight game but outscored WVSU 54-47 in the final 20 minutes of play.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: No. 2 West Liberty 91, West Virginia State 89
Team Records: No. 2 West Liberty 8-1 (4-1 MEC), West Virginia State 5-4 (3-3 MEC)
Attendance: 782
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• West Liberty scored the first six points of the game, four of which came from John Korte, before West Virginia State gained control of the game with a 26-5 scoring run that forced the Hilltoppers to call a timeout with 8:43 remaining in the first half.
• Out of the timeout back-to-back layups by Darren Fergus and Lanyc Shuler began to get WLU back on track as it cut what was the largest lead of the game at 15 points back down to 11 points at 26-15.
• Dante Spadafora's 3-pointer with 4:02 remaining in the first half was the first of the game for West Liberty and made tonight the 800^th consecutive game with a 3-pointer, dating back to November 14, 1999. Getting fouled on the shot as well, Spadafora converted the free throw to make it a 4-point play. This sparked momentum once again for the Hilltopper offense as Zach Rasile knocked down a second straight 3-pointer of an assist from Spadafora, cutting the deficit to single digits at 35-26.
• The Hilltoppers were within three points following a jumper on a fastbreak by Christian Montague, making it a 40-37 game with 39 seconds remaining. A pair of free throws by West Virginia State pushed the lead to 42-37 at the halftime break. WLU outscored WVSU 18-11 in the final 4:17 following the under-five media timeout.
• West Liberty scored the first four points of the second half off jumpers in the paint by Kyler Daugustino and Montague to cut the deficit to one point at 42-41 with 19:02 left in the game. West Virginia State, however, responded with five straight points to push the lead back to 47-41.
• Chaz Hinds converted the second 4-point play of the game for the Hilltoppers, knocked down the contest shot from the right wing, as well as the free throw, to cap an 8-2 scoring run to claw WLU back within two points at 55-53 with 14:38 left in the game.
• The Yellow Jackets responded with seven consecutive points and a 9-2 scoring run to extend their lead back to 62-55, before the Black & Gold had yet another answer to stay in the game. A 13-4 scoring run with seven points from Ben Sarson gave West Liberty their first lead of the game since it was 9-8 in the first half. Sarson tied the game at 66 with a fastbreak dunk before a steal and assist from Alek West led to a fastbreak layup by Spadafora to give WLU the 68-66 lead with 9:41 remaining in the game.
• The lead changed hands six more times in the final nine minutes of regulation before a pair of free throws by Sarson gave the lead for good at 82-81 with 2:24 to play. The Hilltoppers led by as many as four points on two occasions in the finals two minutes as Montague connected on a 3-pointer to make it 85-81 with 1:46 left and Hinds made a 3-pointer with 54 seconds to play to make it 88-84.
• Spadafora made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds to play to extend the lead to 91-88, allowing WLU the opportunity to foul up three points with nine seconds left on the clock. The Yellow Jackets went 1-of-2 at the free throw line and the Hilltoppers broke the press and dribbled the clock down to 0.4 seconds left before WVSU was able to foul.
• West Liberty shot 31-of-67 (46.3%) from the field, 12-of-31 (38.7%) from 3-point range, and 17-of-26 (65.4%) from the free throw line compared to 33-of-68 (48.5%) from the field, 5-of-13 (38.5%) from 3-point range, and 18-of-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line for West Virginia State.
• The Hilltoppers held the advantage in fast break points (26-13), bench points (42-22), and points off turnovers (25-17).
• Sarson led four players in double figures scoring with a game-high of 18 points, while Spadafora added 14 points. Montague and Hinds scored 13 and 12 points respectively.
• WLU had five players knock down a shot from beyond the arc, led by Hinds and Spadafora with three apiece.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Ben Sarson: 18 points, 6-of-6 free throws, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Dante Spadafora: 14 points, 3-of-5 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Christian Montague: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Chaz Hinds: 12 points, 3 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

HEAD COACH BEN HOWLETT AND DANTE SPADAFORA POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE VS. WEST VIRGINIA STATE

 
UP NEXT
West Liberty will step out of Mountain East Conference play next weekend as they travel to the Daytona Beach Shootout in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Hilltoppers will face (RV) Dominican (N.Y.) on Sunday, December 17, and then (RV) Angelo State on Monday, December 18. Both games will be played at 1 p.m. inside the Ocean Hill Center.