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Hot-Shooting Shippensburg Downs West Lib

Photo Provided by WLU Athletics West Liberty’s Dan Monteroso looks for an open teammate during Saturday’s game against Shippensbug.

PETERSTOWN, Va. — West Liberty’s Mountain East Conference championship season came to a disappointing end Saturday night as a hot-shooting Shippensburg squad pulled away to a 98-66 win in an NCAA Division II Atlantic Region quarterfinal at the VSU Multi-Purpose Center.

After racing out to a double-digit halftime lead, the No. 5-seeded Raiders (24-7) shot a blistering 71 percent from the floor in the second half as coach Ben Howlett’s Hilltoppers (26-4) struggled to match up against their taller, stronger opponent.

“First of all, congratulations to Shippensburg,” Howlett said. “They played an almost flawless game and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them make a really deep run in the postseason. That’s a very good basketball team.

“Along with how well they shot the ball, the thing that jumped out at me was that they finished with 35 rebounds and we had 18. Their big guys were matchup problems for us, especially when our bigs got in foul trouble and we had to try to defend them with guards.”

West Liberty stumbled out of the gate, missing 6 of its first 7 shots and turning the ball over 5 times in the first 5 minutes as Shippensburg bolted out to an 11-2 lead.

The Hilltoppers trailed by as many as 18 points, 38-20, after Clay Conner knocked down one of six first-half 3-pointers for the Raiders but WLU battled back to trail just 45-33 at the half.

With Shippensburg making 17 of 24 shots from the floor in the final 20 minutes — including a 7-of-12 showing from the 3-point arc — West Liberty was never able get any traction and the game quickly slipped away.

McCarthur led all scorers for the Raiders with 33 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the 3-point line and 10 of 11 from the charity stripe. Sleva had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Antonio Kellem rounded out the double-figure scorers for the winners with 13 points.

Dan Monteroso closed out a sparkling two-year career on the hilltop with 17 points and six assists — both team-highs — while fellow senior Jordan Watson added 15 points off the bench. Eric Meininger had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists while senior Brandon Smith just missed double-figures with nine points.

“I can’t say enough about what our three seniors — Dan, Brandon and Jordan — have meant to this program and to me, personally,” Howlett said. “It’s hard to see this season come to an end because it means I won’t get to coach these guys anymore and their teammates won’t get to play with them again.

“Obviously, their production has been a big part of our success this season but their leadership on and off the floor is what we’ll miss the most. It has been an honor for me to be their coach.”

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