WHEELING, W.Va. - The top-seeded West Liberty University men's basketball team put on a dominating performance Sunday evening, downing No. 2 Fairmont State, 112-82, to secure a second straight and fifth all-time Mountain East Conference Tournament title.

The Hilltoppers become the first team in MEC history to win back-to-back tournament titles and the +30 margin is the largest victory in a championship game in tournament history.

Bryce Butler was named the tournament's most valuable player after posting his fourth straight double-double. Butler netted a game-high 22 points and pulled in 12 rebounds to finish the tournament averaging 20.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists over a dominating three days for the Black and Gold.

West Liberty shook off a slow start after being held off the scoreboard for the first three minutes with a quick four points to tie the game at the 16:46 mark.

The lead changed hands five times over the next two minutes, until the Hilltoppers went on a 9-2 run to go up six and they never looked back, holding the lead the rest of the way. A Fairmont State three pointer at the 11:37 mark put the game within one possession for the last time, as WLU rattled off seven consecutive points to take its first double-digit lead of the game on a Steve Cannady three pointer with just over 10 and a half minutes left in the opening frame.

The Hilltoppers extended the lead to 22 late in the first half and took a 53-33 advantage into the break, behind consistent pressure and strong three-point shooting. WLU drained eight first half triples and held Fairmont State to 1-for-6 shooting from deep. Cannady accounted for half of them going a perfect 4-for-4 beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes. 

The roll continued in the second half with the lead staying at 20-plus for the final 18 minutes. Butler hit three long balls early and scored a quick 11 points out of the locker room to go up 25. The advantage got to 30 at the 12:37 mark off a 5-0 spurt by the Black and Gold, and reached as many as 41 with just over three minutes to play off a Ben Sarson three pointer. West Liberty shot 50% from beyond the arc (10-for-20) in the second half.

Cannady finished with 19 points off a game-high five three pointers and dished out 19 assists to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Malik McKinney charted 16 points, Chaz Hinds ended with 15, 12 of which in the first half, and Sarson added 13, 12 of which in the second half, to round out five Hilltoppers in double figures.

West Liberty dished out 29 assists on 42 made baskets, while outshooting Fairmont State 18-4 from beyond the arc. The Black and Gold connected on over half their baskets for the third straight night, finishing 50.6% from the floor and added a 42.9% effort from deep.

The Hilltoppers set eight tournament records in the convincing win, including most points (112), largest halftime lead (+20), largest final margin (+30), most field goals made (42), most three pointers made (18), most rebounds (48), most assists (29), and finished the tournament with +75 scoring margin over opponents.

West Liberty secures the MEC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II National Tournament and will await their seed in next week's Atlantic Region, which will be released tonight at 11 pm on NCAA.com. 

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

Postgame Press Conference

Head Coach Ben Howlett, Bryce Butler, Steve Cannady