\u2014 By Bryan Dillon, For MountainEast.org<\/i><\/p>\n
WHEELING, W.VA. \u2014<\/b> Top-seeded West Liberty never trailed and held off a comeback bid on the way to capturing its fifth MEC tournament championship, 93-88, over second-seeded Fairmont State on Sunday afternoon at WesBanco Arena.<\/p>\n
West Liberty has a 27-4 record, while Fairmont State is 26-5. Both teams will await the release of the Division II men\u2019s tournament bracket this evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a heck of a college basketball game,\u201d said West Liberty head coach Michael Lamberti.\u00a0\u201cWesBanco was very packed with a lot of energy.\u00a0West Liberty and Fairmont State yet again.\u00a0It has happened numerous times over the last couple of years, and I thought it was a classic Mountain East Conference championship game.\u201d<\/p>\n
As they did throughout the tournament in historical fashion, West Liberty\u2019s defense stepped to the forefront, forcing Fairmont State into 19 turnovers, through eight steals.\u00a0West Liberty tied the\u00a0 tournament record with 47 steals over three games, a record they set in 2025.<\/p>\n
Freshman Myles Montgomery led the Hilltoppers defensively throughout the tournament, setting an individual steals record with 14, surpassing former Hilltopper JP Dragas’ previous record of 11 set in last year\u2019s tournament.\u00a0Following the game it was announced that Montgomery was named tournament MVP after averaging 17.3 points per game and 4.6 steals per game.<\/p>\n
When asked about winning the MVP and Mountain East Championship Trophies, Myles Montgomery said, \u201cit feels really good, and it is a blessing to have this [trophy].\u00a0I could not have won [MVP], or we could not have all won [the tournament] without a whole team effort.\u00a0I could not have done anything I have done without the coaches and all the players.\u00a0We are a whole team, and we have more games to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking on his impact on the defensive end, Montgomery said,” Everybody knows we play really fast and trap a lot. I have fun doing it, the whole team does.\u00a0 We always say, let’s just fly around, and that has been our motto all year.\u00a0 I can\u2019t get steals if my teammates can\u2019t get traps.\u00a0We all just fly around, and I get fortunate a lot of times for the ball to land in my lap.<\/p>\n
The strength in depth that the Hilltoppers showed throughout the tournament once again showed up on Sunday afternoon as Peter Lattos set the tone for WLU with 16 first-half points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Lattos finished with 18 total points, helping West Liberty to a 35-27 advantage in bench points.<\/p>\n
Lattos was joined by four teammates in double digits, including Myles Montgomery and Hayden Abdullah with 13 points, Cam Williams with 12 points, and Aiden Davis with 11 points.\u00a0 Fairmont State was led in scoring by Drey Carter, who finished with a game\u2013high 23 points, and David Jolinder, who added 15 points.<\/p>\n
With a four-point lead with 13:07 remaining in the first half, Peter Lattos hit five of the next six field goals for the Hilltoppers, including a three-pointer with 8:56 remaining to open up a 12-point lead. Three minutes later, West Liberty went on an 8-0 run fueled by five points from Myles Montgomery to open up its lead to 19, before eventually taking a 51-30 advantage into the break.\u00a0 The 21 point halftime margin set a tournament record for the largest lead at the break of a championship game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came out pretty hot in the first half, hitting a lot of shots \u2026 and had a 21-point lead going into the half,\u201d continued Lamberti.\u00a0 \u201cI think that was huge for us because Fairmont really put their foot on the gas in the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came up a little short,\u201d stated Fairmont State head coach Tim Koenig.\u00a0\u201cThe turnovers in the first half really hurt us.\u00a0 We struggled to make shots from the perimeter and had some issues on the glass, but I am really proud of our fight and togetherness in the second half.\u00a0We just ran out of time … tonight we came up a little short.\u00a0 I am very grateful to get another practice.\u00a0I do not know who we are going to play, but I am so grateful to have another opportunity to play a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fairmont State showed its fight in the second half.\u00a0After West Liberty took its largest lead of the game, 24 points on the opening basket of the second half, the Falcons began to slowly chip away at the deficit.\u00a0FSU mixed in a pair of 8-2 runs, which helped cut the lead to as little as three points.\u00a0 It was not enough as the Hilltoppers hit ten free throws over the final 1:04 to hold on to their lead. Drey Carter scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half for Fairmont State.<\/p>\n
Ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the last regional rankings update, West Liberty and Fairmont will find out their opponent in the upcoming NCAA Division II tournament when the final seeds are announced at 11 p.m. this evening.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tournament Awards<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Highest Scorer:\u00a0<\/b>Trey Simmons, Frostburg State<\/p>\n Commissioner’s Heart & Hustle:<\/b>\u00a0Miguel Martinez, Fairmont State<\/p>\n All-Tournament Team<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Bobacar Djigo, Concord<\/p>\n Trey Simmons, Frostburg State<\/p>\n Jalen Knott, Glenville State<\/p>\n Miguel Martinez, Fairmont State<\/p>\n Drey Carter, Fairmont State<\/p>\n Jamie Muldoeney, West Liberty<\/p>\n Cameron Williams, West Liberty<\/p>\n MVP\u00a0– Myles Montgomery, West Liberty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Hilltoppers were in control throughout and held off a late rally from the Falcons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":661644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n