Box Score High-powered West Liberty offense overwhelms Marauders in second halfWEST LIBERTY, West Virginia – The Hilltoppers of West Liberty University showcased their offensive firepower in a 113-90 win over the Central State Marauders on Wednesday night.
Going against the No.1 ranked team in the NCAA Div. II national poll, CSU coach
Joseph Price looked forward to seeing how his team would match up and after 40 minutes of play came to the conclusion that the Marauders have talent but the Hilltoppers may be the best shooting team he has seen during his time as a coach.
"The guys from West Liberty put on a shooting performance that I haven't seen in quite a long time," Price said. "West Liberty has been that type of team all year and showed exactly why they are the top team in the nation again tonight. While we were unable to keep up with their shot making, I did see some great things from our team and I think we can take a lot away from tonight's game. We did show we could play with the best but we just need to pay a little bit more attention to detail when we resume SIAC play."
Price and the Marauders hung with the Hilltoppers in the first half, trading baskets for most of the opening 20 minutes before WL used a late run to take a 57-52 lead at halftime.
Jeremy Brown kept CSU within striking distance thanks to an efficient 8 for 10 performance from the field to lead all scorers at the break.
The Marauders came out in the second half with a 7-2 run as good jumper from Hosie Smith Jr cut the WL lead to 59-58 at the 18:28 mark. With CSU showing confidence, the Hilltoppers quickly responded with a 12-1 run sparked by three straight 3 pointers to take a 72-59 lead.
Akil Cornish hit from beyond the arc for CSU to bring the team back within 10 but the Hilltopper shooters continued to hit. sparking an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 18 with 12:19 to play. From that point on, West Liberty maintained a comfortable lead to the finish while eclipsing the century mark for the seventh time this season.
While West Liberty's offense was clicking in the second half, CSU struggled to shoot the ball in the latter parts of the contest. CSU shot just 37% from the field and had a woeful 52% conversion rate from the free throw line.
West Liberty's Seger Bonifant led all scorers with 27 points, going 10 of 16 from the field and making 6 of 10 three point attempts. After a scoreless first half, Brady Arnold erupted for 16 in the second to go along with a game-high 8 assists. As a team, the No. 1 scoring offense in the NCAA Div. II converted 20 of their 38 three point attempts and were 41 of 73 from the field as they improved to 10-0 overall.
Brown led the way for CSU with 26 points and 9 rebounds. Guard
Sterling Gilmore finished with 19 points while Smith Jr and
Tre' Edwards each recorded 12.
Central State goes into the holiday season with an overall record of 1-5. The team returns to action on Jan. 2 when they travel to Georgia to resume SIAC play against Albany State.
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