ERIE, Pa. – The No. 16-ranked West Liberty University men's basketball team blistered the nets at a 60 percent clip in the second half here Friday and pulled away to a 100-78 victory against Millersville (Pa.) in an NCAA Division II Atlantic Region quarterfinal. In a game that saw 4 ties and 10 lead changes, Christian Montague's 3-point bomb put WLU ahead to stay, 47-45, just 90 seconds into the second half. That shot ignited a 15-3 Hilltopper run that put West Liberty up, 59-48. The Marauders never got closer than 7 points the rest of the way and the Hilltoppers led by as many as 25 points down the stretch.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: No. 16 West Liberty 100, Millersville 78
Team Records: No. 16 West Liberty 26-6, Millersville 24-7
Attendance: n/a

HOW IT HAPPENED

• West Liberty opened the game with a 7-2 burst but Millersville struck back with 7 unanswered points to take its first lead of the night, 9-7, at 15:20 of the first half
• The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes. A short jumper from Kyler D'Augustino gave WLU a 16-14 lead – the 6^th lead change of the early going – just ahead of the under-12 media timeout
• Millersville tied it at 16-16 coming out of the timeout but West Liberty reeled off 11 straight points for a 27-16 lead at 7:33, capped by a D'Augustino layup off a feed from Ben Sarson. D'Augustino had 6 of the Hilltoppers' 11 points during that span
• Millersville spent the rest of the first half slowly cutting into the WLU margin and re-took the lead, 41-40, on a Jaden Faulkner free throw with 38 seconds left in the half. Christian Montague hit a spinning reverse layup just ahead of the horn to send the Hilltoppers into the locker room with a 42-41 lead
• D'Augustino opened the second half scoring with a spin move in the paint to make it 44-41 but Millersville's Jahme Ested hit back-to-back shots to give the Marauders what proved to be their final lead of the night, 45-44, at the 18:50 mark.
• Montague answered, stepping into a 3-pointer just 20 seconds later, putting WLU ahead to stay, 47-45, and touching off a 15-3 West Liberty surge. Chaz Hinds scored 6 straight points during the run and capped the streak with a feed to Fin Woodward for a 59-48 Hilltopper lead with just under 15 minutes to play.
• Millersville was still within range at the under-10 media timeout, trailing 68-61, but John Korte finished off an assist from Zach Rasile and cashed in a driving layup to spark a 19-3 Hilltopper burst that put the game out of reach, 87-64, with 5:28 to play
• Korte gave WLU its largest lead of the game, 96-71, with a pair of free throws at the 1:45 mark. Laync Shuler pushed West Liberty past the century mark, 100-75, with a layup in the final minute
• The Hilltoppers 37-of-88 (54.4%) from the field, 7-of-29 (24.1%) from 3-point range, and 19-of-24 (79.2%) from the free throw line compared to 26-of-52 (50.0%) from the field, 8-of-20 (40.0%) from 3-point range and 18-of-25 (72.0%) from the free throw line for Millersville
• West Liberty had a 21-7 edge in points off turnovers, a 60-36 advantage in points in the paint and an 18-7 advantage in second-chance points
• Ben Sarson led five double-figure scorers with 16 points. D'Augustino had 14 points, Korte and Shuler finished with 13 each and Hinds added 10 lightings

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Ben Sarson: 16 points, 5-of-11 field goals, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Kyler D'Augustino: 14 points, 7-of-12 field goals, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals
John Korte: 13 points, 3-of-4 field goals, 7-of-7 free throws, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
Laync Shuler: 13 points, 6-of-7 field goals, 2 rebounds, 4 assists
Chaz Hinds: 10 points, 3-of-8 field goals, 3-of-4 free throws, 3 rebounds, 3 assists

UP NEXT
No. 16 West Liberty (26-6) advances to play No. 3 Gannon (30-2) in Saturday's NCAA Division II Atlantic Region semifinal. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Cathedral Prep High School in Erie, Pa.