West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's basketball team returns to the hilltop on Saturday, February 17, having won three straight and ten of their last 12 games on the year as they welcome Fairmont State to town. The Hilltoppers and Falcons are set for a 4 p.m. tip-off inside the ASRC.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
• Tip-Off: 4 P.M.

[RV] WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Saturday's game with a record of 18-5 (12-3 MEC) following a 90-80 win at Frostburg State on Wednesday night.
• The Hilltoppers are currently in second place in the league standings.
• WLU remains receiving votes in the NABC Top-25 Coaches' Poll for the second consecutive week after falling out of the rankings last week for the first time since February 2, 2021, ending a run of 47 consecutive releases they appeared in the poll.
• Since 2010 the Black & Gold have posted the best overall winning percentage in NCAA basketball (425-55, .885) and have the best home winning percentage (231-11, .955).
• Through 23 games WLU is averaging 101.0 points, 39.6 rebounds, 23.8 assists, 12.2 steals, and 3.0 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 47.6 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from 3-point range, and 74.7 percent from the free throw line.
• The Hilltoppers lead NCAA Division II in assist/turnover ratio (1.94), assists per game (23.8), bench points per game (45.22), 3-point attempts per game (35.4), and 3-pointers per game (12.7). They also rank second in scoring margin (+20.9) and are third in turnover margin (+9.0) and turnovers forced per game (21.26).
• 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 (104.8 ppg) is led by Jordan Fee who played at WLU from 2010-12, Nova Southeastern (102.8 ppg) is led by former WLU head coach Jim Crutchfield who was on the sidelines from 2004-17, and Coker (101.3 ppg) who is led by Mike Lamberti who played for WLU from 2011-16 and was an assistant coach from 2018-23.
• A total of five players for the Hilltoppers are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Christian Montague with 12.2 points per game while Zach Rasile and John Korte add averages of 11.8 points apiece. Ben Sarson (11.5) and Chaz Hinds (10.3) round out the group.
• Montague and Rasile have notched 20 or more points in four and three games respectively this season while Korte, Sarson, Alek West have twice.
• With 17 points in last Saturday's win at West Virginia Wesleyan, Rasile became the 56^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points in a Hilltopper jersey.
• Rasile leads a group of four WLU players who average more than 2.00 3-pointers per game with 2.35 3-pointers per game, ranking fifth in the MEC. He is joined by Hinds and Montague who are tied for sixth with 2.26 3-pointers apiece, and Dante Spadafora who is 12^th with 2.00 3-pointers per game.
• Spadafora leads the team at 45.7 percent from beyond the arc on 42-of-92 shooting while Montague is 52-of-120 for 43.3 percent.
• The Hilltoppers have reached double digit made 3-pointers in 17 of their 23 games this year. Additionally, WLU has connected on 15 or more 3-pointers in seven contests, which includes back-to-back games against Glenville State and Salem when they became only the second team in all NCAA divisions to make 20 or more shots in multiple games this year.
• Among qualifiers for the league leaders, Korte ranks ninth as he has knocked down 89-of-113 shots from the charity stripe for 78.8 percent. Spadafora and Sarson are a pair of four players who shoot better than 80 percent from the free throw line, going 44-of-50 (88.0%) and 34-of-40 (85.0%) respectively.
• Korte and Sarson lead WLU on the glass, securing 6.0 and 4.7 rebounds per game. The pair has grabbed four or more boards in 15 and 13 games respectively. With one apiece the pair has the only double-doubles for West Liberty this season. Finley Woodward ranks eighth in the MEC with an average of 1.91 offensive rebounds.
• Montague ranks third in the MEC dishing out 103 total assists and is fourth with an average of 4.5 assists per game, while West ranks sixth with an average of 3.5 assists per game and is seventh with 77 total assists. The pair has tallied five or more assists in ten and six games respectively.
• West's 3.85 assist/turnover ratio ranks third in DII as he has dished out 77 assists compared to only 20 turnovers. Montague also ranks 29^th nationally with a 2.58 assist/turnover ratio, totaling 103 assists compared to 40 turnovers.
• The WLU defense is spearheaded by the trio of Spadafora, Montague, and West who rank second, third, and seventh respectively in the MEC in steals per game. Spadafora has collected 2.05 steals per game and ranks 34^th in DII while Montague and West add 1.78 and 1.55 steals per game. Montague and Spadafora have each posted 12 multi-steal games while West has notched 11.
• Sarson leads the team with an average of 1.11 blocks per game and total of 21 blocked shots this season, ranking sixth and eighth in the MEC. He has recorded seven games with multiple blocks.
• Ben Howlett is in his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty with a record of 179-30 (.856) with the Hilltoppers. He is second to only his predecessor, Jim Crutchfield, for best win percentage across all NCAA divisions for coaches with a minimum of five years of experience.

FAIRMONT STATE STORYLINES

• Fairmont State enters Saturday's game with a record of 17-6 (10-6 MEC) following an 89-66 win at home against Wheeling on Wednesday night.
• The Falcons are currently fifth place in the league standings.
• Through 23 games FSU is averaging 82.7 points, 37.4 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 8.2 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting the ball 46.0 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from 3-point range, and 72.7 percent from the free throw line.
• The Falcons rank within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in three statistical categories, ranking 14^th in 3-point attempts per game (28.3), 23^rd in 3-pointers per game (10.0), and 25^th in turnover margin (+3.4).
• Fairmont State is led by a pair of the MEC's leading scorers as David Jolinder ranks fifth with 16.9 points per game and Zyon Dobbs is seventh with a scoring average of 16.4. Also averaging double figures is Cameron Whiteside (14.2) and Tommy Williams (13.3).
• Williams is the top scoring threat from beyond the arc as he leads the conference with 2.87 3-pointers per game and 66 total 3-pointers, ranking 31^st and 34^th nationally. He ranks third in the league with a shooting percentage of 38.6 percent from deep, knocking down 66-of-171 attempts.
• Dobbs ranks fifth in the league with 88 total made shots from the charity stripe on 123 attempts for 71.5 percent. Williams is 30-of-31 (96.8%) and Tyheil Peterson is 46-of-54 (85.2%).
• Seth Younkin not only leads the Falcons but leads the MEC on the glass with 7.8 rebounds per game. He is second in the conference with an average of 2.78 offensive boards per game.
• Dobbs and Whiteside are the facilitators of the FSU offense as Dobbs ranks fifth in the league with 4.2 assists per game and Whiteside is seventh with an average of 3.4.
• Leading Fairmont State on the defensive side of the ball is Williams, who is sixth in the conference with 1.57 steals per game.
• Tim Koenig is in his fifth season as the head coach at Fairmont State, holding a record of 102-34 during his time with the Falcons. Overall, he is in his 11th season overall as a head coach, spending six prior seasons at MEC foe Notre Dame (OH) and has a career record of 195-122.

SERIES HISTORY

• Fairmont State leads the all-time series 98-87, however West Liberty is 26-8 in the series since the 2010-11 season.
• The Hilltoppers won their third straight game against the Falcons with a 101-84 victory on January 13, 2024, inside Joe Retton Arena in Fairmont, West Virginia.
• Alek West scored a WLU career-high of 25 points and added six rebounds, while Chaz Hinds scored 14 points and dished out six assists. Both West and Hinds shot 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.