It only took two days to break that mark.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s No. 12-ranked Hilltoppers raced out to a 98-42 halftime lead against Point Park (Pa.) Tuesday night and kept right on rolling to a 157-89 victory against the previously-unbeaten Pioneers before an appreciative crowd at the ASRC.
Coming off a 154-48 victory against Lock Haven (Pa.) on Sunday – the most points scored by an NCAA Division II team in the past decade – Crutchfield wasn’t expecting another record-setting outburst on Tuesday but a lights-out shooting performance had the statisticians dragging out the record books again long before intermission.
“What’s happening right now,” Crutchfield said, “is that we’re not only playing very well in all phases of the game, we’re shooting the ball extremely well. At one point during the first half, I was just sitting there a little bit awed by how many shots we were making.
“The question, of course, is can we play well on the nights when we’re not shooting well because you know those nights are going to happen but I’ll just enjoy this while it lasts.”
West Liberty (2-0) hit 18-of-27 3-point shots in the first half alone en route to a school and WVIAC record 27 bonus bombs. Barry Shetzer was 7-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half while John Wolosinczuk was a perfect 5-for-5.
The Hilltoppers combined their blistering shooting percentage with another outstanding defensive effort, forcing Point Park (2-1) into 16 first-half turnovers, to break their own school and conference record for points in a half by taking a 98-42 lead at intermission.
The “old” record of 86 points in a half had stood since Sunday.
As was the case in Sunday’s game, the Hilltopper starters put on their warm-ups to watch the second half from the bench and the West Liberty reserves took it from there.
“Our starters will get plenty of playing time over the course of the year,” Crutchfield said. “The thing I liked about tonight is that they may have only played a few minutes but they were a few GOOD minutes.”
The Pioneers, a perennial NAIA power who came into the game with an 11-point victory over No. 25 Siena Heights (Mich.) didn’t go down without a fight.
Point Park was still running its full-court press in the final minutes as the Hilltoppers closed in on the record.
After West Liberty’s Mike Lopez tied the record with a 3-pointer at 1:39 to make it 154-85, Kris Douse answered with a short jumper for the visitors.
The Hilltoppers broke the press following Douse’s hoop and Lopez drained a step-back 3-pointer for the record with 46 seconds to play.
Shetzer and Corey Pelle shared game scoring honors with 25 points each. Pelle had a double-double with 25 points and 10 assists despite playing only 14 minutes.
Wolosinczuk finished with 17 points while Jordan Fortney added 15. Mark Shadowens came off the bench with 16 points and Nick Brown added 14 points. Jeff Yunetz and Chris Morrow rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Douse, a Delaware State transfer, led Point Park with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Jimmy Sherwood, who played two years at Duquesne, added 15 points.
The Hilltoppers open WVIAC play on the road Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Concord.
West Liberty is back in action at home on Tuesday against Point Park (Pa.). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
Game Notes
Ø The 27 3-point field goals obliterated West Liberty’s previous school and WVIAC single-game record of 22. The Hilltoppers set that mark against Bluefield State on Jan. 15, 2009 and tied it against Concord on Jan. 23, 2010.
Ø The 157 points were the most ever allowed by a Point Park team, breaking the old mark set in a 141-96 loss to Ashland in 1992
Ø The 68-point defeat also set a Pioneer record. Before Tuesday’s game, the biggest margin of victory in a Point Park loss was 62 points, set by Youngstown State with a 127-65 win in 1990.
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