Wheeling, W.Va. – The No. 5 West Liberty men's basketball team put on a commanding performance in their Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament opener, rolling past Davis & Elkins 102-77 in the quarterfinals at WesBanco Arena.
The Hilltoppers (26-3) secured their place in the semifinals while improving to 12-12 all-time in MEC Tournament play in advancing to the semi's. They wasted no time asserting their dominance, racing out to a 41-19 lead late in the first half after a three-pointer from Garrison Kisner with 3:40 left on the clock. West Liberty carried a 46-28 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Davis & Elkins opened the second half with a quick 5-0 spurt to trim the deficit to 46-33, but the Toppers quickly responded. A 21-10 West Liberty run stretched the lead back to 22 points at 67-45, and they never looked back en route to the lopsided victory.
Sophomore guard Daniel Autrey led the charge with a season-high 25 points, draining seven three-pointers (also a season-high) to pace the offensive explosion. JJ Harper contributed 14 points and eight rebounds, while Kyler D'Augustino added 14 points and six boards. Lanyc Shuler rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points and five assists.
Coach Ben Howlett said after the game, " Did some stuff offensively uncharacteristic for us, thought in the second half we started passing the ball better and ended up with 21 assists we had seven at halftime. 21 assists by the end of the games that's kind of who we are and thought overall the effort was really good in the second half."
With the win, West Liberty advances to the MEC semifinals, where they will take on Concord. Tip-off is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. as the Toppers look to continue their championship pursuit. WLU is now 24-7 all-time in MEC tournament play and coach Ben Howlett is now 16-4 in the MEC tournament.
Howlett added, " We want to win every game we play, so tomorrow (Saturday) it's another game, but it'a a game to get into the championship which is what we want to do, we're on a three game mission here."
Game Details:
Davis & Elkins 77
West Liberty 102
WesBanco Arena
Attendance:1,700
D&E: 12-18
WLU: 26-3
