Coach Jim Crutchfield’s Hilltoppers (4-0, 2-0) broke the game open early with a 13-0 run and never trailed in handing the Battlers (3-2, 1-2) the most lop-sided loss of Coach Greg Zimmerman’s decade at the A-B helm.
“I was pretty pleased tonight,” Crutchfield said. “This was a tough shooting night for us. We didn’t make a single ‘three’ in the first half but we still put 54 points on the board because we created a lot of offense out of our defense. We forced 17 turnovers in the first half and that’s where a lot of our buckets came from.
“I thought our guys were really geared up defensively. We did a good job of putting pressure on them in the frontcourt without giving up a lot of easy chances at the other end.”
Alderson-Broaddus, which has reeled off 9 consecutive 20-win seasons and earned 9 straight NCAA Tournament bids under Zimmerman, wilted quickly under the relentless Hilltopper pressure.
With the Battlers already on the short end of an 11-6 count, West Liberty’s Mark Shadowens ignited what proved to be the decisive surge with a conventional 3-point play.
Corey Pelle followed with a steal and breakaway dunk and Chris Morrow produced the game’s first double-digit lead by rolling to the hoop for an 18-6 margin.
John Wolosinczuk made it 20-6 with a fast break feed from Alex Falk to force an A-B timeout at 12:54 but the Hilltoppers weren’t finished yet.
Falk scored on a baseline drive after West Liberty forced another turnover and Falk then fed Morrow for an easy hoop after coming up with yet another steal.
That pushed the lead to 24-6 with 12:22 remaining before the half but the game, for all intents and purposes, was over.
The Hilltoppers, who came into the game averaging 23 3-point field goals a night on 59 percent shooting, hit just 5-of-22 (.227) shots from behind the arc on Tuesday – all in the second half – and it simply wasn’t a factor. The starters went to the bench with 8 minutes left and the reserves continued to build on the margin coming down the stretch.
“We have a pretty diverse offense,” Crutchfield noted. “We know people are going to try to take away the 3-pointer so we have to be ready to take the ball to the basket when they overplay the perimeter. We did a good job recognizing and attacking the basket tonight.”
Pelle led all scorers for West Liberty with 27 points – 21 of them coming in the first half – while Falk and Keene Cockburn added 13 points each.
Carl Buck had 14 points to lead the Battlers.
The Hilltoppers return to action Saturday when Tiffin (Ohio) comes to town for a non-conference game. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the ASRC.
Game Notes
X Tuesday’s game was the third home game of the season for West Liberty but the first time any of the starters had launched a shot at the basket in front of the Hilltopper bench. None of the starters got off the bench in the second half of the first two games.
X West Liberty’s 54 first-half points and 51 second-half points are the Hilltoppers’ two lowest-scoring halves of the season.
X The 41-point loss is the largest margin of defeat for an Alderson-Broaddus team since an 87-47 loss to Clayton State (Ga.) in a holiday tournament at Winter Park, Fla. on Jan. 3, 2003.
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