WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. -- Second-ranked West Liberty took control early and never looked back on Monday night in sprinting off to a 128-69 blowout of West Virginia State in Mountain East Conference action at the ASRC.
It was the 55th consecutive league win at home for coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (5-0, 2-0).
The Hilltoppers finished with 21 3-point field goals, 21 2-point field goals, 23 assists and 57 rebounds while holding the Yellow Jackets to 32 percent shooting (24 of 74) and forcing 26 turnovers.
Devin Hoehn, a redshirt freshman, was 5-for-5 from the 3-point arc and 6-for-6 from the floor for 17 first-half points. He finished with a game-high 26 points – on 9 of 11 shooting – despite playing only 20 minutes off the bench.
He didn't lack for company in the scoring column as all 12 Hilltoppers made at least one shot from the floor. Kelvin Goodwin added 17 points and six rebounds in just 21 minutes while Keene Cockburn finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Seger Bonifant had 15 points, C.J. Hester weighed in with 14 points and eight rebounds and Shawn Dyer picked up a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Anton Hutchins had 24 points for West Virginia State.
No. 6 Midwestern State 72, Oklahoma City 61
WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Senior guard Monzaigo Williams ignited a 10-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers late in the second half, allowing sixth-ranked Midwestern State to pull away from a pesky Oklahoma City squad 72-61 on Monday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs improved to 5-0 on the season.
Senior forward Derek Kaster, who finished with 10 points and three rebounds, ignited a 10-0 run at the starting of the second half with a thunderous dunk off of a steal as MSU pushed out to a 46-32 on an Eddie D'Haiti layup just under four minutes after intermission.
D'Haiti matched DeJuan Plummer with a team-high 12 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting night in 23 minutes of play.
But Oklahoma City kept chipping away behind the efforts of backcourt mates Terence Bonhomme (15 points, four assists) and Jamaal Crayton (13 points, seven rebounds) who combined for 28 points for the Stars who creeped to within 53-50 with 9:29 to go.
But Williams connected on a pair of free throws before Plummer hit Derrell Gibbs on a backdoor cut for a dunk to set back-to-back treys from the left wing by Williams in 1:49 to give the Mustangs a commanding 63-50 edge with 5:23 to play.
Gibbs completed an all-around performance with six points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot while junior Xavier Blackburn added eight points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.
