Photo Provided by WLU Athletics West Liberty freshman Will Yoakum puts up a shot during Saturday’s double overtime victory against Concord.

WEST LIBERTY — For roughly 35 minutes of Saturday’s Mountain East Conference showdown with Concord at the ASRC, No. 9 West Liberty’s defense held scoring sensation Tommy Bolte relatively at bay. Bolte scored 29 of his game-high 41 from that point, but the Hilltoppers (13-2 overall, 9-1 MEC) were one point better in a 109-108, double-overtime victory that allowed them to keep pace with Fairmont atop the conference standings.

”I’ll argue with anyone that he’s the best Division-II player in the country,” WLU coach Ben Howlett said of Bolte.

When the game was on the line, however, it was Jair Rodgers who was forced to take the final shot after the Hilltoppers’ Dalton Bolon tipped the ball out of bounds with 4.3 seconds remaining.

”That enabled us to double (Bolte) and we weren’t going to let him catch it,” Howlett said.

Rodgers got to the baseline and his off-balance leaner bounced around the rim and out as WLU prevailed.

”I thought that ball was going in,” Howlett said. ”First of all you have to give credit to (Coach) Todd May and Concord, because they’re a really good basketball team.

”For us, we’ve got to learn to finish games. We had them down a couple of times and came down and turned the ball over.

”We aren’t very good at the end of games right now, but I think we got better. A lot of these guys haven’t played in a game like this.”

Guys like true freshman Yahel Hill, who appeared to have won it with a leaning bank shot to give the Toppers an 86-84 lead with 3.3 left in regulation. But Bolte caught the ball at halfcourt and with WLU afraid of fouling, made it all the way to the basket for the tying layup as the horn sounded to force overtime. Bolte scored 16 of the final 19 points down the stretch for the Mountain Lions (10-5, 6-4).

A 3 from Tyler Primmer, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds, and a Hill free throw gave West Liberty a 97-94 lead with 23.5 left in the first overtime, before a drive and a kick on the other end concluded with a game-tying 3-pointer out of the corner by Concord’s Brandon Kennedy.

The lead changed hands on four occasions during the last two minutes of the second overtime, but two free throws by Hill put West Liberty on top, 109-108, with 52 seconds remaining.

An exchange of turnovers gave the ball back to the visitors with 25 seconds left. Bolte dribbled the clock down into the single digits looking for an opening but Bolon knocked a pass out of bounds, stopping the clock and forcing the Mountain Lions to go to Rodgers for the final shot.

Center Eric Meininger played 48 minutes and finished with a double-double of 16 points — all in the first half — and a game-high 11 rebounds. This is just the latest of many conference showdowns he’s been a part of.

”I am so proud of these guys,” Meininger said. “I told them after (Concord) tied it up at the end that the toughest team wins in overtime.

”I thought our young guys did a great job of pushing through the adversity to come away with a really big win.”

Bolon led the way for the Hilltoppers with 27 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Hill scored 19 and fellow freshman Will Yoakum netted 17, while senior Brady Arnold scored 10 points in a season-high 31 minutes on the two-year anniversary of WLU’s last double-overtime game which was a 96-90 victory against rival Wheeling Jesuit.

In addition to his points total, Bolte added eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. David Mulumba set a season-high for the second time in three days with a 22-point, seven-rebound effort. Rodgers finished with 19 points and Kennedy netted 11.

”They’re not as deep as they have been, but that’s as good a Concord team as I’ve seen,” Howlett said. ”And for (Bolte) to play all 50 minutes and do what he did is incredible.

”They’re right there and they’re going to beat some of the top teams in the conference before it’s said and done.”