West Liberty, W.Va. – The match-up of top-3 MEC teams fighting for seeding position in the nearing conference tournament and potential regional tournament did not disappoint on Saturday evening as the No. 20 West Liberty University men's basketball team battled to an 89-76 victory over Concord. The tightly contested game featured a total of 20 lead changes and ten ties as neither team was able to gain control until the Hilltoppers closed the game on a commanding 22-9 scoring run as they shut down the Mountain Lion offense and limited them to just 3-of-16 shooting from the field down the stretch.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: No. 20 West Liberty 89, (RV) Concord 76
Team Records: No. 20 West Liberty 21-5 (15-3 MEC), Concord 20-5 (13-5 MEC
Attendance: 824
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a back-and-forth opening minutes of play where Concord held a 7-5 lead, Chaz Hinds knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for the first of many momentum shifts in the game as West Liberty snagged an 11-7 lead with 15:52 to play in the first half. The Hilltopper lead was short lived as the Mountain Lions quickly countered with a 10-0 run of their own as they regained a six point lead (17-11) with 13:40 to play before Ben Sarson stalled the run with a basket from beyond the arc.
• Powered by a pair of 3-pointers, an 8-2 scoring run gave WLU the lead back once again as Dante Spadafora connected on his second deep ball of the night to push the Black & Gold in front 25-24 with just over ten minutes remaining in the opening half.
• CU once again had a response as they forced the seventh lead change of the night with a jumper to give them a 26-25 lead. They would lead by only as many as four on two occasions before Kyler Daugustino converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to cap five consecutive points to put West Liberty in front 32-31 for just a matter of seconds before six unanswered points for Concord gave them the lead the remainder of the half. The Mountain Lions led by as many as five points in the closing minutes of the first before they entered the break with a 46-42 advantage after a layup with ten seconds to play.
• Concord scored the first three points of the second half to extend their lead to seven (49-42) before back-to-back 3-pointers from Zach Rasile capped a 10-0 scoring run to swing the momentum and the lead (52-49) back to West Liberty. The ensuing seven minutes of action saw a total of ten lead changes between the teams' exchanging blows before they entered the under ten media timeout knotted up at 67 apiece with 9:51 to play in the contest.
• Out of the media timeout Rasile knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Hilltoppers the lead for good as they gradually grew their lead over the final ten minutes of action. A layup by Alek West off an assist from Finley Woodward capped a 7-2 run during this span as the WLU lead was pushed to eight (80-72) with just over five minutes remaining. For the first time in the match-up for either team, the lead was extended to double figures (85-74) as West connected on a pair of free throws with 2:51 remaining on the clock. Christian Montague put an end to the scoring in the game with a layup with 1:28 to play, closing out a 22-9 scoring run for the Black & Gold to end the game. During the final ten minutes of action the Hilltoppers shot the ball 7-of-13 from the field compared to only 3-of-16 for the Mountain Lions.
• West Liberty shot 34-of-68 (50.0%) from the field, 9-of-24 (37.5%) from 3-point range, and 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the free throw line compared to 29-of-61 (47.5%) from the field, 2-of-15 (13.3%) from 3-point range, and 16-of-28 (57.1%) from the free throw line for Concord.
• Five WLU players knocked down a 3-pointer in the win, led by Spadafora with three while Hinds and Rasile each connected on two.
• The Hilltoppers held the advantage in points off turnovers (25-5), points in the paint (48-46), fast break points (15-10), and bench points (42-17) while the Mountain Lions held the edge in second chance points (13-6).
• Leading three players in double figures for West Liberty was Montague with 12 points, the 18^th time he has scored ten or more points this year. He was joined in double figures by Korte and Spadafora who had 11 points apiece.
• Prior to the game the West Liberty men's basketball program recognized five seniors as John Korte, Ben Sarson, Zach Rasile, Alek West, and Chaz Hinds played their final game inside the ASRC.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Christian Montague: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
John Korte: 11 points, 4-of-6 field goals, 7 rebounds, 1 assist
Dante Spadafora: 11 points, 3-of-4 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE (CHRISTIAN MONTAGUE, HEAD COACH BEN HOWLETT, AND JOHN KORTE)

 
UP NEXT
West Liberty will close the regular season with two consecutive road contests, starting with a trip to Notre Dame on Wednesday, February 28. The Hilltoppers and Falcons are slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside Murphy Gymnasium in South Euclid, Ohio.