Hilltoppers Grind Out Big Win Over Charleston
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WEST LIBERTY -- There was a potential playoff preview on the hilltop Wednesday night as the West Liberty men's basketball team hosted MEC rival Charleston in an early-season tilt with plenty on the line.
The Golden Eagles (7-2, 4-1 MEC) came into the game still undefeated in league play early in the season and the No. 10 Hilltoppers (8-1, 4-1) did not want to fall two games behind them in the standings, especially with a game in Charleston still to be played after the new year.
"We talked about this game and how it means so much to us in terms of league play," said WLU coach Ben Howlett. "We felt like if we went down two games (in the standings) to these guys early in December, it could be tough crawling our way back, so we knew this was a pivotal game. As far as I can remember, this is one of the most important December games we've had in a long time."
Not ones to crumble under pressure, the Hilltoppers were able to tough out an 89-78 victory over the visitors in front of their home fans at the ASRC.
"We beat a really good basketball team tonight," Howlett said.
"A team that's going to win a lot of games, is really well coached and has a lot of talented players."
The game began and West Liberty grabbed the early advantage, using a 15-2 run to build a 19-10 lead after six minutes of play. After both teams made mass substitutions, however, the pendulum swung the other way as the Golden Eagles responded with a 12-2 run that made the score 22-21 in their favor.
"I thought the pace was really good, it was favoring us at that point in the game," Howlett said of the early run. "I thought when we put our platoon two in and they matched us with a platoon of their own, I actually thought that their platoon gave them a big lift."
Riley Heatherington was big off of the visitors' bench as the Golden Eagles began to solve WLU's press defense. He shot a perfect 5-5 from the floor and finished with 10 points.
Momentum evened out when both teams' scores reached the 20s and UC went into halftime with a 48-44 advantage. The Golden Eagles out-shot WLU 60% to 44.4% in the first half.
Following the break, Charleston made it a point to start feeding the ball into the post to fifth-year big man Lamont McManus. Using his superior size and strength, McManus started to become a problem as UC maintained its slim lead. McManus rumbled to a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds when all was said and done.
"It seems like he's been there forever," Howlett said of McManus. "He's just super strong and he's very underrated with how skilled he is as well. It's pick your poison -- do you double down and leave shooters open on the perimeter or do you elect to play him one-on-one in the post?"
Howlett chose the latter of the poisons and used big men Victor Kovacevic and Marlon Moore to guard McManus solo down low. Guarding someone as physical as McManus proved to be a tough task, however, as Kovacevic (four) and Moore (three) both got into foul trouble early in the second half.
"I think Elijah Watson gave us a huge lift off the bench in the second half when both Marlon and Victor picked up three and four fouls," Howlett said. Elijah went in there and played extended minutes and I thought he battled really hard."
West Liberty battled back to a tie score, 55-55, when the press produced two easy buckets that gave the hosts a four-point lead. A trey by Watson and later another from Bryce Butler extended WLU's lead to 65-57.
"I'm going to give my assistant coaches a lot of credit, we tweaked (the press) in the second half," Howlett admitted. "I thought that was a huge part of the reason we won. They were getting easy baskets in the first half so we tweaked it and I think it eliminated that problem."
After grabbing the lead, West Liberty never looked back. Powered by a game-high 22 points from Pat Robinson, the Hilltoppers saw their lead climb as high as 80-70 with less than three minutes to play.
But the Hilltoppers would not cruise to an easy victory. In a matter of 30 seconds, UC hit two threes and a layup to suddenly make it a two-point game with 82 seconds left to play.
Butler hit a three to give WLU some breathing room with a five-point lead and Moore ran down to the other end and blocked a pair of Charleston shots. Moore proceeded to effectively ice the game when he made four straight free throws in the dying seconds.
"He's been known to show up in big games," Howlett said of the senior. "I think he really enjoys playing against top-level players and McManus is definitely one of those guys. I think it brings the best out of Marlon and he closed the game out for us in a big way."
Moore finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Butler finished second on the team with 20 points with three 3-pointers and nine rebounds. Malik Mckinney matched Moore with 11 points.
For UC, Keith Williams and Eddie Colbert III both scored 11 while Isaiah Gable and Heatherington poured in 10 apiece.
Robinson led all scorers with 22 points and also had a game-high five assists, a part of his game he wants to work on this season.
"I just don't want to be one-dimensional," Robinson admitted. "I want them to respect me to pass or to score. People know I can put the ball in the basket but if I'm passing it too, it elevates my teammates and also makes me harder to guard.
"I think all my teammates stepped up in a huge way," he continued. "Even when we were struggling early on in the half, everyone kept their heads up and the shots started to fall."
The Hilltoppers travel to play West Virginia State on Monday.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
WEST LIBERTY 78, CHARLESTON 74
WEST LIBERTY - Preceding the men's game, the women's matchup provided even more drama on the hilltop.
Audrey Tingle poured in a career-high 28 points as the Hilltoppers (6-2, 4-1) downed visiting Charleston (4-5, 2-3) 78-74 in an exciting overtime thriller.
UC's Clarissa Francis swished a pair of free throws with sevens seconds left in regulation to send the game into an extra frame, where WLU scored the final six points of the night en route to the win.
"I am so proud of the way this team stayed together and fought for each other tonight," WLU coach Kyle Cooper said. "Winning is so hard, especially in tight games against quality opponents, and we haven't got as many of these wins as we'd like the last few years. With a young team like ours, the confidence you gain from executing under pressure down the stretch to get a win like this can be a program-changer."
Corinne Thomas scored 15 points, Karly McCutcheon added 12 points and Arriana Manzay contributed 10 of her own for the victors.