West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 20 West Liberty University men's basketball team will face their fourth opponent of the season who are either ranked or receiving votes as they travel to (RV) Concord for a Wednesday night conference match-up. The Hilltoppers and Mountain Lions are set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside the Carter Center in Athens, West Virginia, in a battle of teams vying for a pair of the top spots in the league standings.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Athens, W.Va. (Carter Center)
• Tip-Off: 7:30 P.M.

#20 WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Wednesday's game with a record of 11-3 (6-1 MEC) following a 101-84 win at Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon where the Hilltoppers shot a season-high 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from beyond the arc and 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from the charity stripe.
• The Hilltoppers are currently tied for first place in the league standings with Charleston.
• After a pair of conference wins last week West Liberty moved up five spots to No. 20 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll on Tuesday afternoon.
• Through 14 games WLU is averaging 102.4 points, 39.6 rebounds, 24.8 assists, 12.6 steals, and 2.9 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 48.4 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from 3-point range, and 73.4 percent from the free throw line.
• The Hilltoppers lead NCAA Division II in assists per game (24.8), bench points per game (48.50), 3-point attempts per game (34.7), and 3-pointers per game (12.8). They also rank third in assist/turnover ratio (1.90), scoring offense (102.4), turnover margin (+9.0), and turnovers forced per game (22.07).
• Joining the Hilltoppers in the top-4 scoring offenses in DII are three teams with ties back to the hilltop and their unique style of play. Gannon (109.3 ppg) is led by Jordan Fee who played at WLU from 2010-12, Nova Southeastern (103.4 ppg) is led by former WLU head coach Jim Crutchfield who was on the sidelines from 2004-17, and Coker (98.7 ppg) who is led by Mike Lamberti who played for WLU from 2011-16 and was an assistant coach from 2018-23.
• Since 2010 the Black & Gold have posted the best overall winning percentage in NCAA basketball (418-53, .887) and have the best home winning percentage (228-10, .958). The Hilltoppers have won 28 consecutive games inside the ASRC dating back to January 22, 2022.
• A total of five players for the Hilltoppers are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Christian Montague with 12.6 points and Zach Rasile with 11.8 points per game, while Chaz Hinds and John Korte add 11.5 and 11.2 points per game respectively. Ben Sarson rounds out the group with an average of 10.6 points.
• Montague and Rasile each have a pair of games with 20 or more points in 2023-24 while Sarson and Alek West each have one. Sarson scored a season-high of 21 in the win over the Bobcats on Wednesday while West scored a WLU career-high of 25 against the Falcons on Saturday.
• The Hilltoppers have four players who rank within the top-15 of the league leaders in total 3-pointers and 3-pointers per game. Hinds (34) and Montague (31) rank fourth and fifth in the league in total 3-pointers while Rasile (30) and Dante Spadafora (28) are ninth and 12^th respectively. All four players are averaging 2.00 or more 3-pointers per game, led by Hinds (2.43) who is fourth in the conference and followed by Montague (2.21), Rasile (2.14), and Spadafora (2.00) who are eighth, tenth, and 14^th in the MEC.
• As they each shot 4-of-4 from beyond the arc against Fairmont State, Hinds and West recorded the most made 3-pointers without a miss in a single game this season by an MEC player.
• The Hilltoppers have made a 3-pointer in 805 consecutive games, a streak dating back to November 14, 1999. In their last outing against Fairmont State, they reached double digit made 3-pointers for the 11^th time this season with 14 made shots.
• Sarson and Korte lead WLU on the glass, securing 5.0 and 4.8 rebounds per game. The pair has grabbed four or more boards on ten and six occasions respectively. The pair recorded the first two double digit rebound performances of the season last week for West Liberty, including Sarson who secured the team's first double-double on the year with 11 points and ten rebounds against the Falcons.
• Montague ranks second in the MEC dishing out 68 total assists and is third with an average of 4.9 assists per game. He has tallied five or more assists in eight games, including a season high of seven on three occasions.
• West's 3.62 assist/turnover ratio ranks sixth in DII as he has dished out 47 assists compared to only 13 turnovers. Montague also ranks 31^st nationally with a 2.62 assist/turnover ratio, totaling 68 assists compared to 26 turnovers.
• The WLU defense is spearheaded by Spadafora who leads the MEC with 32 total steals and is second with an average of 2.29 steals per game, ranking 29^th and 23^rd respectively. Montague is third in the league in both categories with 2.14 steals per game and 30 total steals, ranking 34^th and 40^th respectively. Montague has posted ten multi-steal games while Spadafora has notched eight.
• Sarson leads the team with 16 total blocked shots and is averaging 1.14 per game this season, ranking fourth and seventh in the MEC. He has recorded six games with two or more blocks.
• Ben Howlett is in his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty with a record of 172-28 (.860) with the Hilltoppers. He has regained the best winning percentage amongst coaches with a minimum of five years of experience across all NCAA divisions.

(RV) CONCORD STORYLINES

• Concord enters Wednesday's game with a record of 9-2 (5-2 MEC) following an 85-73 win at home against Davis & Elkins to improve to 4-1 inside the Carter Center.
• The Mountain Lions are currently tied for third place in the league standings with Davis & Elkins.
• After a pair of conference wins last week, Concord is receiving votes in the sixth consecutive release of the NABC Coaches' Poll.
• Through 11 games CU is averaging 78.9 points, 46.8 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 4.5 steals, and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting the ball 43.7 percent from the field, 31.0 percent from 3-point range, and 74.1 percent from the free throw line.
• Concord ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in eight statistical categories, leading the country in defensive rebounds per game (32.91) and rebounds per game (46.82) while also ranking seventh in fewest fouls per game (13.5), eighth in blocks per game (5.3), 11^th in defensive field goal percentage (40.0%), 14^th in offensive rebounds per game (13.91), 15^th in rebound margin (+7.6), and 16^th in defensive 3-point percentage (29.6%).
• Kollin Tolbert leads five players averaging double figures in scoring with 12.7 points per game. He is joined by JJ Harper (12.2), Jordan Wooden (11.5), Amare Smith (11.4), and Jevon Laidler (10.3). Tolbert has posted a pair of games with 20 or more points this season while Harper, Laidler, Smith, and Wooden each have one.
• Wooden and Smith are the top 3-point shooters on the team, shooting 19-of-48 (39.6%) and 12-of-29 (41.4%) respectively.
• Laidler ranks sixth in the MEC in free throw percentage, shooting 36-of-42 (85.7%) from the charity stripe. Another top player for CU at the free throw line is Smith who is 19-of-22 (86.4%).
• Rene Diop and Tolbert are two of the top rebounders in the MEC, ranking sixth and eighth with 6.4 and 6.3 boards per game respectively. Diop also ranks seventh in the league with 2.30 offensive rebounds per game. Diop, Tolbert, Laidler, and Ayden Ince each have one double-double this season.
• Wooden, Tolbert, and Harper are the facilitators of the CU offense, averaging 2.5, 2.5, and 2.1 assists per game respectively. Tolbert has four games of four or more assists this season while Wooden and Harper each have two.
• On the defensive side of the ball, Tolbert leads the team with 1.3 steals per game in 2023-24. He has posted a total of five multi-steal games this season, including a season-high of four.
• Diop is one of the top rim protectors in the conference and the country, leading the MEC and ranking eighth in DII with 2.50 blocks per game. His 25 total blocks are second in the league and 34^th nationally. He has six games of three or more blocked shots this year, including a season-high of seven against Indiana (PA) that is tied for eighth most in DII in 2023-24.
• Todd May is in his eighth season as the head coach at Concord with a career record of 107-98 during his time with the Mountain Lions.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty leads the all-time series 50-32 and have won 26 of the last 30 meetings dating back to the 2010-11 season.
• The Hilltoppers won their sixth consecutive game against the Mountain Lions with a 96-72 victory in the MEC Tournament Semifinals on March 3, 2023, in Wheeling, West Virginia.
• Christian Montague (15), Zach Rasile (13), Ben Sarson (11), and Alek West (11) all scored in double figures in the win. Montague and Rasile shot a combined 7-of-11 from beyond the arc while Sarson and West added eight and five rebounds respectively.