West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 20 West Liberty University men's basketball team returns to the hilltop this weekend as they look to continue a number of win streaks against Glenville State. Not only does WLU enter on a current 4-game win streak since their trip to Florida but an 18-game win streak against the Pioneers and a 28-game win streak in the ASRC. The Hilltoppers and Pioneers are scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the ASRC, delayed two hours from the originally scheduled time due to the current winter weather conditions.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
• Tip-Off: 6 P.M.

#20 WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters this weekend's game with a record of 12-3 (7-1 MEC) following a 91-79 victory at (RV) Concord on Wednesday evening to move their win streak to four games.
• 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 15 games WLU is averaging 101.7 points, 40.0 rebounds, 23.9 assists, 12.2 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 48.0 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from 3-point range, and 74.8 percent from the free throw line.
• The Hilltoppers lead NCAA Division II in assists per game (23.9), bench points per game (47.73), and 3-point attempts per game (34.0). They also rank second in 3-pointers per game (12.4), and third in assist turnover ratio (1.86), scoring offense (101.7), turnover margin (8.6), and turnovers forced per game (21.47).
• 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 (108.4 ppg) is led by Jordan Fee who played at WLU from 2010-12, Nova Southeastern (102.3 ppg) is led by former WLU head coach Jim Crutchfield who was on the sidelines from 2004-17, and Coker (98.9 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 (419-53, .888) and have the best home winning percentage (227-10, .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 11.5 points per game, while Ben Sarson and Chaz Hinds add 11.1 and 11.0 points per game respectively. John Korte rounds out the group with an average of 10.8 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.
• The Hilltoppers have three players who rank within the top-15 of the league leaders in total 3-pointers and 3-pointers per game. Hinds (35) and Montague (33) rank fourth and sixth in the league in total 3-pointers while Rasile (31) is ninth. All three players are averaging more than 2.00 3-pointers per game, led by Hinds (2.33) who is fifth in the conference and is followed by Montague (2.20) and Rasile (2.07) who are eighth and 11^th in the league.
• 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 806 consecutive games, a streak dating back to November 14, 1999. They have reached double digit made 3-pointers in 11 of the 15 games this year.
• Sarson and Korte lead WLU on the glass, securing 5.0 and 4.9 rebounds per game. The pair has grabbed four or more boards on 11 and seven 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 Fairmont State.
• Montague ranks third in the MEC dishing out 72 total assists and an average of 4.8 assists per game. He has tallied five or more assists in eight games, including a season high of seven on three occasions.
• West's 3.77 assist/turnover ratio ranks fifth in DII as he has dished out 49 assists compared to only 13 turnovers. Montague also ranks 29^th nationally with a 2.67 assist/turnover ratio, totaling 72 assists compared to 27 turnovers.
• The WLU defense is spearheaded by Dante Spadafora who ranks second in the MEC with 32 total steals and an average of 2.13 steals per game, ranking 34^th nationally in both. Montague is third in the league in both categories with 2.07 steals per game and 31 total steals, ranking 40^th and 41^st respectively. Montague has posted ten multi-steal games while Spadafora has notched eight.
• Sarson leads the team with 19 total blocked shots and is averaging 1.27 per game this season, ranking third and fifth in the MEC. He has recorded seven games with multiple blocks, including a season-high of three against Concord.
• Ben Howlett is in his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty with a record of 173-28 (.861) with the Hilltoppers. He has regained the best winning percentage amongst coaches with a minimum of five years of experience across all NCAA divisions.

GLENVILLE STATE STORYLINES

• Glenville State enters this weekend's game with a record of 9-6 (5-3 MEC) following a 77-76 home win over Wheeling on Wednesday.
• The Pioneers are currently tied for third place in the league standings with Concord, West Virginia State, and Davis & Elkins.
• Through 15 games GSU is averaging 84.7 points, 42.8 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 6.9 steals, and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting the ball 42.5 percent from the field, 34.1 percent from 3-point range, and 69.0 percent from the free throw line.
• Glenville State ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in seven statistical categories, ranking seventh in rebounds per game (42.80), eighth in 3-point attempts per game (29.5), ninth in bench points per game (37.47), 12^th in defensive rebounds per game (29.13), 15^th in offensive rebounds per game (13.67), 25^th in fast break points (15.93) and 3-pointers per game (10.1).
• Dominiq Penn leads the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game, ranking seventh in the MEC in scoring. Jordan Turbo Smith (12.9), Devin Collins (12.3), and Jay Scott (10.5) round out the four players averaging double figures. Penn has posted six games of 20 or more points while Smith and Scott each have two, and Collins and Jaelin Johnson each have one.
• Penn is second in the conference with 3.00 3-pointers per game and 42 total 3-pointers, ranking 22^nd and 47^th nationally. He is shooting 42-of-93 (45.2%) from beyond the arc, while Collins who is another scoring threat from 3-point range is 30-of-81 (37.0%).
• Collins and Johnson lead the Pioneers on the glass with 5.9 and 5.2 rebounds per game respectively. Johnson has posted a pair of double-doubles while Collins has one.
• Smith is the facilitator of the GSU offense, averaging 4.3 assists per game. He has recorded five or more assists in five games this season.
• On the defensive side of the ball, Smith averages 1.8 steals per game and has collected multiple steals in five games, including a season-high of four in a pair of games.
• Trevor Chandler and Remy Lemovou have each posted a team-high of 16 blocked shots, tying for fifth most in the MEC. Lemovou is seventh in the league with 1.14 blocks per game and Chandler is 11^th with 1.07 blocks per game. Lemovou has notched multiple blocks in five games while Chandler has on four occasions.
• Bob Bolen is in his first season as the head coach at Glenville State with a record of 9-6 during his time with the Pioneers. He previously spent 19 seasons as the head coach at Mountain State (NAIA) from 1993-2012, as he has accumulated a career record of 489-125 in his 20^th season as a head coach.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty leads the all-time series 77-71 and has won 28 of the last 29 games, including 18 straight.
• The Hilltoppers swept the season series with an 82-70 win in the Waco Center in Glenville, West Virginia, on February 8, 2023.
• Christian Montague scored 12 points in the game and shot 7-of-10 from the free throw line. He added four assists and three rebounds. Ben Sarson added nine points and 11 rebounds.