Hustle Plays Lead West Virginia To CBI Win Over GCU

Harler, Routt come up big for Mountaineers

MORGANTOWN - Hustle plays.

You can't win without them and that was the case Wednesday night at the Coliseum as West Virginia (15-20) played host to a Grand Canyon University (20-14) squad that reached the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

For the first 19 minutes of the opening half the Antelopes were looking like they may make West Virginia coach Bob Huggins wish he hadn't listened to his players when they convinced him to place his Mountaineers into the Roman College Basketball Invitational.

Holding a slim, 34-32, advantage with the clock ticking down until the intermission, Moundsville's Chase Harler came up with a diving steal, got the ball to Cameron's Logan Routt, who then threw a picture-perfect pass to junior transfer Jermaine Haley for the dunk as time expired to push the Mountaineers' lead to four, 36-32.

"Hustle plays are what gets us going," said Haley, who finished with a game-high 24 points. "It allowed us to go into the locker rooms on a positive. We knew we were going to hear it from the coaches because we really hadn't played with much energy the entire first half."

But, Grand Canyon wasn't about to lay down and give up as the Antelopes pushed out to a 51-49 lead on a Trey Drechsel 3 at the 9:40 mark of the second half.

That's when the 'Marshall County Connection' took over.

Routt, who finished with five points, five rebounds, two assists and three blocks, hit a layup to knot the game at 51 before Harler, who had missed his three shots in the first half, connected on a long 3-pointer to put the hosts up for good at 54-51.

Two free throws from the Wheeling Central graduate, who finished with 10 points and a game-high four assists, pushed the margin to five, 56-51.

The run continued as Harler pulled down a missed Grand Canyon shot then found a streaking Haley for the easy layup and a 58-51 advantage with 7:35 left to play.

"When we make plays like those, we are a hard team to beat," said Harler. "We need those hustle plays to get us going. "

I know the one there at the end of the half really got me going. I think I missed all three of my shots in the first half, but came out after halftime and didn't miss a shot."

West Virginia, which got 11 points each from Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Lamont West, will now take on Coastal Carolina - an 81-72 winner over Howard - in one of the four quarterfinal games slated to be played on Monday.

Grand Canyon was led in scoring by Oscar Frayer's 13 points and Damari Milstead's 12.

Michael Finke tallied nine, while Matt Jackson and Allesandro Lever each added eight.