West Liberty, W.Va. – After a slow start the (RV) West Liberty University men's basketball team settled in and rallied to an 85-60 home win over Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon inside the ASRC. The Hilltoppers saw the Falcons jump out to an early 8-0 lead in the contest and responded with their first of two critical scoring runs to gain a nine point lead late in the first half. FSU had an answer of their own to even the game at 38 apiece entering the halftime break, however the Black & Gold seized all control of the game as they used a 23-3 scoring run midway through the second half to take the lead for good.

QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: (RV) West Liberty 85, Fairmont State 60
Team Records: (RV) West Liberty 19-5 (13-3 MEC), Fairmont State 17-7 (10-7 MEC)
Attendance: 879
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Fairmont State started the game with a quick 8-0 scoring run forcing an early West Liberty timeout with 17:09 left in the first half. Out of the timeout Chaz Hinds interrupted the scoring run to get the Hilltoppers on the board with a 3-pointer, however the Falcons extended the run to 12-3 with another pair of baskets.
• Lanyc Shuler sparked a 10-2 scoring run with a layup and Finley Woodward poured in eight unanswered points over a two minute span to bring WLU within one (14-13) with 12:06 left in the opening half.
• John Korte tied the game for the first time at 20 apiece with a pair of free throws and then proceeded to give the Hilltoppers their first lead of the contest with another 2-for-2 trip to the charity stripe the ensuing possession with 6:46 left on the clock.
• Fairmont State responded with a pair of their own free throws to tie the game at 22 apiece prior to Shuler sparking another WLU scoring run with five straight points from a 3-pointer and layup followed by Korte and Ben Sarson each knocking down a pair of free throws to push the lead to nine (31-22) with a 9-0 scoring run.
• The Falcons ended the first half by outscoring the Hilltoppers 16-7 during the final five minutes to bring the game to a 38-38 tie at the halftime break.
• Fairmont State scored the first three points of the second half prior to West Liberty seizing control of the game with 19 unanswered points that was capped by a 3-pointer from Dante Spadafora with 11:03 remaining in the game. The Falcons interrupted the scoring run with a basket from beyond the arc, but WLU extended the run to 23-3 as a steal and lead out pass from Alek West led to a breakaway dunk by Korte that erupted the ASRC crowd and forced FSU to call yet another timeout as the lead grew to 61-44.
• FSU stalled the momentum with four unanswered but another 12-4 scoring run for WLU pushed the lead to 22 as Woodward added yet another layup to make it a 73-51 ball game with 4:02 left in the MEC match-up.
• Fairmont State briefly trimmed the lead back down to 19 points however West Liberty ended the game on an 8-2 run as Woodward ended the scoring in the game with a pair of free throws with 1:03 left in the game to give the Hilltoppers their largest lead of the night at 25 (85-60).
• West Liberty shot 29-of-73 (39.7%) from the field, 7-of-33 (21.2%) from 3-point range, and 20-of-22 (90.9%) from the free throw line compared to 22-of-51 (43.1%) from the field, 3-of-20 (15.0%) from 3-point range, and 13-of-22 (59.1%) from the free throw line for Fairmont State.
• Four WLU players knocked down a 3-pointer in the win, led by Hinds with three and Spadafora with two.
• The Hilltoppers held the advantage in points in the paint (44-32), points off turnovers (14-11), second chance points (15-3), and bench points (44-7) while the Falcons held the edge in fast break points (19-16).
• Leading four players in double figures for West Liberty, Woodward reached double figures for the tenth time this season with 16 points while Korte, Shuler, and Daugustino scored 15, 13, and 11 points respectively.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Finley Woodward: 16 points, 6-of-8 field goals, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
John Korte: 15 points, 9-of-10 free throws, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal
Lanyc Shuler: 13 points, 6-of-7 field goals, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Kyler Daugustino: 3 steals, 2 rebounds
 
POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE


UP NEXT
(RV) West Liberty will return to the road for Wednesday's mid-week contest as they travel to Glenville State. The Hilltoppers and Pioneers are slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside the Waco Center in Glenville, West Virginia.