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Dante Spadafora vs. Concord
JJ Stout

No. 14 West Liberty Set for First of Two Road Contests as the Postseason Nears

2/27/2024 5:19:00 PM

West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 14 West Liberty University men's basketball team will play their first of two match-ups away from home to close the regular season on Wednesday, February 28, as they travel to Notre Dame as they search for their eighth regular season sweep of 2023-24. The Hilltoppers and Falcons are set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside Murphy Gymnasium in South Euclid, Ohio.
 
GAME DETAILS
  • Location: South Euclid, Ohio (Murphy Gymnasium)
  • Tip-Off: 7:30 P.M.
#14 WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES
  • West Liberty enters Wednesday's game with a record of 21-5 (15-3 MEC) following an 89-76 win at home over (RV) Concord on Saturday afternoon.
  • The Hilltoppers are currently in second place in the league standings.
  • After extending their win streak to six games with a pair of MEC wins last week, WLU rose six spots to No. 14 in Tuesday's NABC Top-25 Coaches' Poll.
  • Since 2010 the Black & Gold have posted the best overall winning percentage in NCAA basketball (428-55, .886) and have the best home winning percentage (233-11, .955).
  • Through 26 games WLU is averaging 99.0 points, 39.7 rebounds, 23.2 assists, 11.7 steals, and 2.9 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 47.1 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from 3-point range, and 75.6 percent from the free throw line.
  • The Hilltoppers lead NCAA Division II in assist/turnover ratio (1.97), assists per game (23.2), bench points per game (44.88), and 3-point attempts per game (34.8). They also rank second in scoring margin (+20.1) and 3-pointers per game (12.1) and are third in turnover margin (+8.7) and turnovers forced per game (20.46).
  • 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 (104.3 ppg) is led by Jordan Fee who played at WLU from 2010-12, Nova Southeastern (102.9 ppg) is led by former WLU head coach Jim Crutchfield who was on the sidelines from 2004-17, and Coker (101.5 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 11.7 points per game while Zach Rasile and John Korte add averages of 11.6 and 11.5 points respectively. Ben Sarson (10.9) 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.
  • Hinds leads a group of four WLU players who average more than 2.00 3-pointers per game with 2.31 3-pointers per game, ranking sixth in the MEC. He is joined by Rasile and Montague who are seventh and tenth with 2.28 and 2.08 3-pointers, and Dante Spadafora is 11th with 2.04 3-pointers per game.
  • Spadafora leads the team at 45.0 percent from beyond the arc on 49-of-109 shooting while Montague is 54-of-140 for 38.6 percent.
  • The Hilltoppers have reached double digit made 3-pointers in 17 of their 26 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 in free throw percentage as he has knocked down 103-of-129 shots from the charity stripe for 79.8 percent. Spadafora and Sarson are also a pair of four players who shoot better than 80 percent from the free throw line, going 44-of-51 (86.3%) and 39-of-46 (84.8%) respectively.
  • Korte leads WLU on the glass, ranking seventh in the league with 6.1 rebounds per game while West is second on the team with an average of 4.8. The pair has grabbed four or more boards in 18 and 16 games respectively. With points and rebounds Korte and Sarson have the only double-doubles for West Liberty this season. Finley Woodward ranks eighth in the MEC with an average of 1.96 offensive rebounds.
  • Montague ranks third in the MEC dishing out 111 total assists and is fourth with an average of 4.3 assists per game, while West ranks sixth with an average of 3.7 assists per game and is seventh with 92 total assists. The pair has tallied five or more assists in 11 and seven games respectively.
  • West's 3.54 assist/turnover ratio ranks fifth in DII as he has dished out 92 assists compared to only 26 turnovers. Montague also ranks 33rd nationally with a 2.52 assist/turnover ratio, totaling 111 assists compared to 44 turnovers.
  • The WLU defense is spearheaded by the trio of Spadafora, Montague, and West who rank second, third, and sixth respectively in the MEC in steals per game. Spadafora has collected 1.88 steals per game while Montague and West add 1.69 and 1.60 steals per game. Montague and West have recorded 13 multi-steal games while Spadafora has on 12 occasions.
  • Sarson leads the team with an average of 1.00 block per game and a total of 22 blocked shots this season, ranking seventh and tenth 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 182-30 (.858) 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.
NOTRE DAME STORYLINES
  • Notre Dame enters Wednesday's game with a record of 13-12 (8-11 MEC) following an 87-81 loss at Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon.
  • The Falcons are currently in seventh place in the league standings.
  • Through 25 games, NDC is averaging 82.9 points, 38.8 rebounds, 14.9 assists, 7.4 steals, and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting the ball 45.0 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from 3-point range, and 70.5 percent from the free throw line.
  • Devin Haid leads a trio of players in double figures with 15.5 points per game, ranking eighth in MEC. He is joined by Andre Harris (12.8) and RJ Ogom (11.6). Haid has reached the 20-point mark on eight occasions while Harris and Ogom have three times apiece.
  • Haid is one of NDC's top scoring threats from beyond the arc knocking down 35-of-90 (38.9%) while Trent Williams is 34-of-83 (41.0%).
  • Harris ranks fourth in the league with an average of 7.1 rebounds per game and is third with 2.38 offensive boards per contest. He has secured double digit rebounds in five games, leading to four double-doubles.
  • Gbolahan Adio is the facilitator of the Notre Dame offense, dishing out 2.6 assists per game this season. He has recorded three or more assists on 11 occasions.
  • Haid spearheads the Falcon defense by averaging 0.96 blocks and 1.42 steals per game, which rank ninth and tenth in the conference respectively. He has collected nine multi-steal games and six multi-block games this season.
  • Mark Richmond is in his fifth season as the head coach at Notre Dame, posting a career record of 62-68 during his time with the Falcons.
SERIES HISTORY
  • West Liberty leads the all-time series 21-3.
  • The Hilltoppers won their fifth straight in the series with a 109-84 victory inside the ASRC on November 21, 2023.
  • Ben Sarson led seven WLU players in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Christian Montague dished out seven assists while Finley Woodward and Chaz Hinds grabbed four rebounds apiece.
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