West Liberty University head coach Jim Crutchfield became the second-fastest coach to 200 wins in West Virginia Conference history Saturday as his No. 2-ranked Hilltoppers coasted to a 103-88 victory against Glenville State at the ASRC.
It was the 200th win in 241 career games for West Liberty's 8-year court boss. Only the legendary Joe Retton, who picked up his 200th win in his 231st game at Fairmont State during the 1974 season, got there faster but Crutchfield said there was plenty of praise to go around.
"That's 200 wins for the whole program, not just for one man," Crutchfield said. "You can't win 200 games in eight seasons without having good assistant coaches and good players in your program and that's certainly been the case here. I'm just proud to be part of that program."
The Hilltoppers (25-1, 20-0), who have already clinched their third straight WVIAC title, led by as many as 20 points in the second half but the scrappy Pioneers (6-18, 5-15) never folded and took advantage of some uncharacteristic late-game foibles by the Hilltoppers to keep things interesting.
"The biggest thing was that we didn't shoot the ball very well from the perimeter," Crutchfield said, noting that WLU hit a season-low 21 percent (5-of-23) from behind the 3-point arc. "On top of that, we weren't as smart with the ball and the clock down the stretch as we need to be. We made a few mistakes but the bottom line is that we came out of here with a 15-point win and now that the game's over, that's all that matters."
Junior guard Alex Falk led the way for West Liberty with 28 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds while freshman forward C.J. Hester notched his 11th double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Cedric Harris and Tim Hausfeld added 17 and 16 points, respectively, while Nick Brown came off the bench with 10 points.
Glenville State's Kevin Gray led all scorers with a game-high 29 points.
"After playing Alderson-Broaddus, West Virginia State and a much-improved Glenville team in the same week, I think a little bit of rest might do us some good," Crutchfield said. "We'll try to catch our breath a little bit tomorrow and then come back Monday to start getting ready for a really good Wheeling Jesuit team."
The Hilltoppers hit the road Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit.
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