INDIANA, Pa. - The No. 5 ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team shook off a slow start and powered its way to a 86-72 victory over third-seeded Mercyhurst in the NCAA Tournament Atlantic Region semifinals Sunday evening inside the Kovalchick Center on the campus of Indiana (Pa.) University.

The Hilltoppers advance to the regional championship game, a.k.a the Sweet 16, on Tuesday at 7 pm against the winner of tonight's (1) IUP and (4) Virginia Union semifinal matchup.

Back-to-back MEC Atlantic Region and Mountain East Conference Player of the Year Bryce Butler led the team in scoring for the sixth straight game pouring in 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, but that's not all. Butler was active in all facets of the game pulling in a team-best six rebounds and dishing out a game-high seven assists, along with two blocks on the defensive end and just one turnover.

Christian Montague went 6-for-9 from the floor including three long balls to add 17 points, while tallying six assists, four rebounds, three of which on the offensive end, and two steals.

The Lakers jumped on the Hilltoppers early, as they got out to an 8-0 lead just over two minutes in. Zach Rasile put West Liberty on the board with a triple and energized the Black and Gold, draining each of his first three attempts from beyond the arc to keep WLU within arms reach throughout the early parts of the first half. Rasile finished with 11 points, one of three Hilltoppers in double digits.

The Hilltoppers netted seven straight points to get within two (27-25) at the six minute mark, then traded buckets before closing out the half on an 8-0 run to take a 37-34 lead into the locker room. Butler drove to the rack for an and-one, then drained a three on the next possession to give WLU its first lead of the game (35-34) near the one-minute mark. Montague made it a three-point advantage with a bucket in the final seconds before the haltime horn.

The teams went back-and-forth out of the break with the game staying within eight points for the opening nine-plus minutes. Malik McKinney drained a three pointer and Montague followed with a fastbreak floater in the lane to put West Liberty ahead by double-digits (61-51) for the first time in the game at the 10:35 mark.

Mercyhurst scored five straight to bring its deficit down to six with just over eight minutes to play, but that would be as close as the Hilltoppers would let them get down the stretch.

An 11-0 run featuring two three pointers from Montague and one from Steve Cannady was capped off by a Butler lay-in to give the Black and Gold their largest lead of the night, at 17 points (76-59) with six minutes remaining. West Liberty kept its advantage at 13-plus the rest of the way and Ben Sarson put the exclamation point on the game with a baseline two-handed jam with two minutes left.

The Hilltoppers shot 52% overall, their fifth straight game above 50% from the floor, and assisted on 19 of their 30 made baskets. WLU connected on 11 triples to eight for Mercyhurst, and outscored the Lakers 34-28 in the paint.

All five starters for Mercyhurst recorded double digits, but West Liberty's unit off the bench outscored the Lakers' reserves 28-7 paced by Rasile's 11 points and eight from Dante Spadafora.

Tuesday will be the 10th regional final appearance in program history and third in the Coach Howlett era. West Liberty is 6-3 all-time in regional finals, last winning in 2021.

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Postgame Press Conference

Head Coach Ben Howlett, Bryce Butler, Christian Montague