The visiting Golden Eagles (3-4, 1-2) had attacked West Liberty’s patented full-court press with enough success to build an early 9-point lead but Crutchfield didn’t tell his team to back off during a brief timeout.
“I told them to press harder,” the veteran coach said with a smile.
Charleston’s 19-10 lead with 14:28 on the first half clock was the largest deficit of the season for the Hilltoppers but it didn’t last long after West Liberty (7-0, 4-0) took its coach’s words to heart.
The Golden Eagles committed eight turnovers over the next 4-plus minutes in the face of WLU’s relentless pressure and managed to hold onto the ball long enough to get off only 3 shots – none of which found the mark.
At the same time, the Hilltoppers were busy turning those turnovers into quick layups and open 3-pointers at the other end of the court.
The result was a 24-2 run that turned a 9-point UC lead into a 34-21 West Liberty advantage as the clock ticked past the 10-minute mark. A visibly shaken Charleston team never recovered.
The Hilltopper pressure helped the hosts open up a 69-45 halftime lead – thanks to a staggering 22 first-half turnovers by UC – and Charleston never got the lead under 20 points the rest of the night.
“We played some inspired defense tonight,” Crutchfield said. “That might have been the best 7 minutes of pressure defense we’ve played since I’ve been here.”
Corey Pelle and Jordan Fortney led West Liberty with 21 points each while Barry Shetzer added 16 points but Crutchfield noted that not all contributions show up in the scoring column.
Sophomore guard Alex Falk had missed Tuesday’s win against Fairmont with flu-like symptoms but returned to the starting lineup on Thursday. Falk finished with 8 points and 4 assists in 20 minutes of action but had a much larger impact on the outcome.
“Alex is a really big part of our press,” Crutchfield said. “He made some incredible plays tonight and I thought he was really the catalyst for our pressure when we were taking control of the game. All five of his steals came during that big run in the first half.”
Jon Liggins led all scorers for Charleston with 22 points while James Eversley finished with 19 and John White turned in 16 points and 13 rebounds.
“I think we’re starting to show that we have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team this season,” Crutchfield said. “We’ve played 3 or 4 games in a row against good teams and found a way to take control of the game by halftime.
“We have a few days off now before Northern Kentucky comes in here. They’re nationally-ranked and one of the best teams in the country so it will be a huge game for us.”
West Liberty hosts Northern Kentucky on Dec. 11. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. at the ASRC.
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