West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 22 West Liberty University men's basketball team returned to the win column on Saturday afternoon as they grinded out a 90-79 victory over former MEC foe, UVA Wise. With the win the Hilltoppers end the 2023 calendar year 15-0 inside the ASRC and enter the new year with a 27 game home win streak dating back to January 22, 2022.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: No. 22 West Liberty 90, UVA Wise 79
Team Records: No. 22 West Liberty 9-3 (4-1 MEC), UVA Wise 6-6 (2-2 SAC)
Attendance: 439
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Christian Montague and Chaz Hinds each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the game as the teams entered the first media timeout evened up at ten apiece.
• The back-and-forth battle continued as each team held an advantage of as many as three points at one point prior to the under ten media timeout, where the Hilltoppers held a 24-23 edge with 8:58 remaining in the first half.
• WLU held the largest lead of the first half at five points on two occasions as John Korte knocked down a free throw to make it 34-29 with 5:52 to play and Ben Sarson added a layup to make it 34-29 with 5:25 remaining in the half.
• Darren Fergus connected on a fade away jumper in the paint with 25 seconds remaining to give West Liberty a 46-42 lead at the halftime break.
• Both teams got off to a fast start in the second half, which saw a jumper by Zy'ever Wingfield give UVA Wise the 49-48 advantage with 18:31 left in the game, which was their first lead since the 13-minute mark in the first half. The lead continued to be traded back-and-forth five different occasions before the under 15 media timeout until Zach Rasile knocked down a jumper to give WLU the lead for good. A 3-pointer by Hinds capped a 7-0 scoring as WLU built a 59-53 advantage.
• Hinds connected on his second 3-pointer of the half to push the lead to double digits at 70-60 with 11:11 left in the game.
• UVA Wise remained within striking distance and continued to stay within single digits until an 8-0 scoring run extended the Hilltopper lead to 17 points after a layup by Sarson made it 90-73 with 2:25 remaining.
• The Cavaliers ended the game on a 6-0 scoring run the final 2:07.
• West Liberty shot 32-of-75 (42.7%) from the field, 10-of-28 (35.7%) from 3-point range, and 16-of-22 (72.7%) from the free throw line compared to 28-of-57 (49.1%) from the field, 4-of-12 (33.3%) from 3-point range, and 19-of-27 (70.4%) from the free throw line for UVA Wise.
• The Hilltoppers reached double digit 3-pointers for the ninth time this season and held the Cavaliers to only four made baskets from beyond the arc, a team that entered the contest 15^th in DII with an average of 10.6 made per game.
• WLU saw five players knock down a shot from beyond the arc, led by Montague and Hinds who each connected on a trio of shots from deep.
• The Black & Gold held a 43-7 advantage in bench points and 31-14 edge in points off turnovers. UVA Wise narrowly won the points in the paint battle, 44-42.
• West led five players in double figures scoring with a season-high of 16 points, scoring 14 in the first half. Korte added 14 points while Montague, Hinds, and Daugustino scored 11, 11, and ten respectively.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Alek West: 16 points, 2-of-3 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
John Korte: 14 points, 5-of-6 free throws, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Christian Montague: 11 points, 3-of-6 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Chaz Hinds: 11 points, 3-of-6 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Kyler Daugustino: 10 points, 2-of-3 free throws, 5 rebounds, 1 steal
 
UP NEXT
West Liberty will open the new year with the return to MEC play as they welcome Frostburg State to the Hilltop on Wednesday, January 10. The Hilltoppers and Bobcats are set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside the ASRC.