STORYLINES – VS. WEST LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
The No. 8 West Liberty Hilltoppers will host UVa-Wise Thursday evening as Head Coach Ben Howlett's team returns home following their 98-89 win over the University of Charleston Saturday afternoon. The Hilltoppers' will look to extend a four-game win streak with the help of the team's leading scorer in sophomore guard Dalton Bolon who is averaging 22.5 points per game this season. West Liberty has been dominating opponents offensively as they lead the nation in scoring offense with 105.5 ppg and a +13.7 scoring margin. The Hilltoppers' 52.6 percent (494-for-939) shooting from the floor ranks fifth in the county in field goal percentage. From the line, the Hilltoppers are shooting 78.2 percent (233-for-298) and are recording 41.2 rebounds and 17.9 assists per game. Senior forward Eric Meininger leads his team in rebounding and assists with 7.5 rpg and 3.7 apg. West Liberty has lost just one game at home this season in the team's season opener against Kutztown University where the Hilltoppers' were defeated, 107-97. Howlett's squad posted its second loss of the season on the road to conference foe Fairmont State, 106-104. West Liberty sits at 11-2 overall and 7-1 in Mountain East Conference play heading into Thursday night's matchup. Currently, the Hilltoppers' are ranked eighth in the D2SIDA poll and ninth in the NABC Coaches poll.
ABOUT UVA-WISE
Blake Mellinger's team will attempt to get its first win of 2019 on the road Thursday night against the nationally-ranked Hilltoppers of West Liberty. UVa-Wise is coming off of back-to-back losses at home against No. 24 Fairmont State, 106-80, and Shepherd University, 80-79. The Cavs fell in a close battle against Shepherd where a late jumper by the Rams lifted Shepherd to a one-point win inside the Prior Center. UVa-Wise will look to junior
Michal Seals to help pull the upset as the 5-foot-10 guard leads his team in scoring with 20.3 ppg while shooting a team-high 87 percent (51-for-58) from the free throw line. Redshirt freshman guard
Briggs Parris has also added a bright spot to the Cavs' offense averaging 14.2 ppg and has become a threat from beyond the arc with 46 percent (52-for-111) shooting from downtown. Junior forward
Eric Okenchi continues to be a dominating force underneath the basket as he leads UVa-Wise in rebounding with 7.8 per game along with 12.5 ppg and 59 percent (56-for-94) shooting from the field. As a team, the Cavalier men are averaging 84.1 ppg and 41.2 rebounds per game while dishing out 17.4 assists per contest. UVa-Wise currently holds a 5-8 overall record and a 3-5 Mountain East Conference record entering into Thursday's game. This is the first of a four-game road stretch for the Cavs as they turnaround for a Saturday afternoon matchup against Wheeling Jesuit.
