WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 12/11 ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team is set to host Concord Saturday inside the ASRC.

THE BASICS
February 11, 2023 | 4:00 pm | ASRC (West Liberty, W.Va.)
Concord (12-10, 9-8 MEC) vs. #12/11 West Liberty (20-3, 15-2 MEC)
Live stats and video links will be available here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty used a strong second half to take down Glenville State, 82-70, on the road. Bryce Butler led the scoring with 27 points and pulled in nine rebounds, while Ben Sarson had 9 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Glenville State started strong, leading 43-35 at halftime, but West Liberty caught up with an 11-point run to take the lead. The Hilltoppers closed out the game with a 13-2 run, securing their win. Christian Montague contributed 12 points, while Malik McKinney added 10. For just the fourth time this season, West Liberty was outshot beyond the arc (6-to-8 in made threes), however WLU had a +10 (44-34) edge in the paint and doubled GSU's production at the free throw line (12-to-6). WLU forced 19 turnovers, 12 of which in the second half, posting a +9-turnover margin and had a +16-rebounding margin including a 20-5 advantage on the offensive glass leading to 20 second chance points.
 
The Hilltoppers are in the top five in Division II in nine statistical categories. They lead the country in three pointers per game (12.6), three-point attempts per game (33.4), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.91). WLU ranks second in scoring offense (99.0 points per game) and assists per game (22.7). Then, is third in turnovers forced per game (19.48) and turnover margin (+7.6), while ranking fourth in scoring margin (+17.8) and fifth in steals per game (10.5). The Hilltoppers have forced 20 or more turnovers 10 times this season including three of the last four games.
 
West Liberty is shooting 48.9% from the field and 37.8% from beyond the arc, meanwhile opponents are converting at a 48.7% rate from the field and 34.8% clip from deep. The Hilltoppers have drained double-digit threes in 17 outings and have had three games with 20-plus triples. The six threes on Wednesday night snapped a six-game stretch with double-digit triples. They have held opponents to single digit three pointers in 19 of the 23 games, including seven of the last eight.
 
WLU has scored over 100-plus 11 times this season including two separate four-game streaks over the century mark, while recording 16 of its 20 wins by double digits.
 
Bryce Butler leads all of DII with 216 made field goals and is shooting 59.2% from the floor. He is atop the MEC and sixth in DII averaging 22.8 points per game. Butler has six double-doubles on the season and has scored double-digits in every game with 18 games above 20 and three 30-point outings. The junior guard also leads the team on the glass pulling in 7.4 rebounds per game, ranking fourth in the conference, and dishes out 3.6 assists per game (second on the team). Butler is a four-time MEC Player of the Week and was named the D2CIDA National Player of the Week on December 13 after his game-winning shot over WVSU at home.
 
Five Hilltoppers average double-digit points per game. Christian Montague (12.2), Malik McKinney (11.9), Steve Cannady (11.1), and Ben Sarson (10.4) all join Butler. McKinney (54.0%) and Butler (59.2%) are both making over half their shots.
 
Montague has scored double digits in 11 of the last 12 games and went over 1,000 career points between Walsh and West Liberty with a career-high 26 points versus Frostburg State on January 11. He is second on the team, averaging 2.13 triples per game, while shooting a team-best 45.8% from three. Montague leads the team averaging 3.9 assists per game and has had four-plus in eight of the last 10 outings.
 
Four 'Toppers are in the top-seven in the MEC in assist-to-turnover ratio, Cannady (1^st – 2.88), Montague (2^nd – 2.87), Alek West (3^rd – 2.59), and Butler (7^th – 1.84).
 
Cannady, a graduate transfer from Mercyhurst, scored a season-high 22 points with four three pointers in the loss at Wheeling and has netted double digits in four of the last six games. Cannady has posted 10-plus 13 times in his first season dawning the Black and Gold. He has dished out multiple assists in nine straight games averaging 3.1 assists per game, and ranks fifth in the MEC in steals per game (1.65) with 12 swipes in the last four games.
 
Rasile is fifth in the MEC averaging 2.35 three pointers per game and is shooting 45.0% from deep. The sophomore guard has drained multiple threes in eight of the last nine games and tied his career-high with five triples three times this season. Rasile also tied his career-high with three steals in the home win over Davis & Elkins and has recorded at least one in nine straight games.
 
6'6" forward Ben Sarson has been in double digits in six of the last nine games, two of which posting nine points including the Wednesday night near double-double off a career-high 11 rebounds. It was his first double-digit rebounding effort of the season. Sarson is shooting 82.9% from the line this season. He has an assist in 10 straight games and dished out a season-high three in last Saturday's win over Charleston. Sarson has made a three in each of the last six games.
 
McKinney, a senior guard from Bowie, Md., has eclipsed 1,000 career points in the Hilltopper uniform becoming the 55^th player in West Liberty history to join the club. He will be honored pregame for the achievement.
 
Nine Hilltoppers average over 10 minutes per game with Butler leading all players, at 29.0 minutes on the court.
 
West Liberty is 11-0 on its home court this season, 8-0 in conference action. On Saturdays inside the ASRC, WLU is 3-0 against MEC foes (WVSU 91-89, Glenville State 88-73, and Charleston 94-77) and earned a 94-85 win over non-conference opponent Cal (Pa.) on opening weekend.

THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
Concord is coming off an overtime win over Wheeling at home on Wednesday. CU is scoring 83.4 points per game on 45.1% shooting and 7.3 three pointers per game, while allowing 81.6 points per game with the best field goal percentage defense in the conference (42.2%).
 
The Mountain Lions could control the paint ranking eighth in DII recording 4.9 blocks per game and third in rebounds per game, at 42.55, both atop the MEC. They also lead the conference in offensive rebounds per game (13.95) and defensive rebounds per game (28.59). Concord is second in the MEC with a +4.4-rebounding margin, commit the third least amount of turnovers per game (13.6), and get to the line the second-most times per game (22.3) making 15.6 freebies per outing.
 
Lual Rahama, a 6'5" graduate student, leads four Mountain Lions averaging double figures, at 17.0 points per game shooting 48.6% from the floor and pulls in 10.2 rebounds per game, the most of any player in the MEC and ninth-best average in DII.
 
Ethan Heller paces the outside shooting making 2.05 triples per game and averages 11.9 points. JJ Harper, a 6'5" junior guard, is scoring 14.6 points per game and 6'4" senior guard Jevon Laidler is netting 10.7 points per game. Laidler leads the blocking efforts averaging 1.41 per game (31 total on the season) ranking second in the MEC. Harper is right behind with 24 blocks (1.09 per game).
 
Laidler (20 points), Heller (18 points), and Rahama (15 points) led seven double-digit scorers in the first meeting against WLU.
 
Concord is 7-6 in away games this season.

THE SERIES
The Hilltoppers own the all-time edge 48-32 and have won 19 of the 23 meetings as MEC foes. West Liberty has won each of the last 10 home contests and nine of the last 10 overall matchups. Last season inside the ASRC, WLU handled the Mountain Lions 85-67 on January 5.
 
Earlier this season, the Hilltoppers had six players net double digits while posting a 58% shooting percentage (now the second highest of the year) rolling to a 113-97 win in Athens. An 18-2 run midway through the first half broke the game open and the Hilltoppers never looked back. Concord showed fight getting the score within four, but a 15-2 run helped the Black and Gold take a 13-point lead at the break. West Liberty shot 69% over the final 20 minutes and extended its lead to as many as 22 (101-78). WLU outshot Concord 16-4 from deep and assisted on 24 of its 40 made shots.
 
Bryce Butler finished with a game-high 21 points, going 8-for-12 from the floor in his seventh straight 20-point game, and was a rebound away from a double-double before fouling out with 2:35 left. Ben Sarson posted 16 points in 17 minutes of action, Christian Montague and Steve Cannady each had 15 points, then Malik McKinney and Zach Rasile netted 12 apiece. Rasile led all shooters with four triples.
 
MEC STANDINGS
West Liberty: 1
Concord: T6
Full Standings click here.

NEXT UP
West Liberty will travel to Frostburg State on Wednesday for a 7:30 pm matchup in the Old Line State.

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