WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – West Liberty used its fast-paced offense, hot shooting and pressure defense to oust West Virginia Wesleyan from the Atlantic Region Tournament, 99-69 on Saturday.
Raymont McElroy (22) and Reggie Chambers (10) finished in double figures for Wesleyan.
Alex Falk led all scorers with 29 points (26 in the first half). C.J. Hester registered a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Hausfeld (14) and Shawn Dyer (11) also notched double figures for West Liberty.
West Liberty raced out to a 12-2 lead; Falk contributed seven of the 12 points. Wesleyan answered with a 12-2 jolt to grab a brief 15-14 lead; Colby Wohlleb ignited the run with a three. WLU went on a 21-7 run to go back in front 35-22; Falk buried a trio of threes during the run. West Liberty went on an 11-0 spurt later in the half to push its advantage to 50-27. The 'Toppers would lead by as many as 27, but Wesleyan scored the final six points of the half to go to the locker room trailing 61-40.
The 61 first half points were the most given up by Wesleyan this season. The 'Toppers scorched the nets in the half, hitting on 24-of-33 (73 percent) attempts from the field, including 9-of-14 (64 percent) from beyond the arc. The WLU pressure forced 10 Bobcat turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
West Liberty would lead by as many as 32 in the second half on its way to the 99-69 victory.
Wesleyan finishes the 2011-12 campaign with a record of 22-9. Five seniors (Chambers, Travis Johnson, Dion Mathis, McElroy and Wohlleb) all played their final game in a Bobcat uniform, but they will be remembered as the first class to lead West Virginia Wesleyan to a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament. West Liberty advances to the Atlantic Region final where they will face Shaw on Tuesday night.