Fairmont State Men's Basketball Notebook
- The No.2-ranked and unbeaten Fairmont State men's basketball team will battle No. 3 West Liberty (20-1, 14-1 MEC) in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd at the ASRC on Saturday afternoon. Tip is set for 4 p.m.
- With a win over the 'Toppers on Saturday afternoon, Fairmont would sweep this season's home-and-away with West Liberty and secure a two-game lead in the MEC standings with just six regular-season games remaining.
- The Falcons will be looking to snap a 30-game home winning streak for the Hilltopper, dating back to the 2015 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship when IUP defeated West Liberty, 77-74. West Liberty has won 36-consecutive home regular season games, dating back to Jan. 22, 2015, a 102-80 loss to Wheeling Jesuit.
- Fairmont State has not beaten West Liberty at the ASRC since Feb. 14, 2008 when the Falcons recorded an 88-79 victory.
- A team has not swept West Liberty during the regular season since Salem International defeated WLU twice during the 2005 season.
- Back on Dec. 4, Fairmont toppled the then-No. 1 Hilltoppers, 86-81, in Fairmont – using an 11-3 run in the final 2:26 of the game to pick up the win. The Hilltoppers have since won 13-straight games since. The Falcons have the longest current winning streak in NCAA Division II at 21 straight.
- The Falcons had four players reach double-figures, led by Matt Bingaya with 24 points and eight rebounds. FSU also got 13 points from Jason Jolly, 12 from Thomas Wimbush and 10 from Shammgod Wells during the first meeting between the teams earlier this season. Dan Monteroso (32) and David Dennis (16) led WLU in the loss.
- In addition to these two teams being ranked second and third in the national rankings, Fairmont State is second in the country in scoring (99.6), followed by West Liberty in third (99.0). Pfeiffer leads NCAA Division II in scoring (107.4).
- In addition to being second in NCAA Division II in scoring, the Falcons are also third in steals per game (10.6), sixth in field goal percentage (51.9), eighth in assists per game (19.0) and scoring margin (17.4) and ninth in three-point field goals per game (11.1) and turnovers forced (18.38).
- On Wednesday evening, Fairmont State earned its fourth win over a nationally ranked opponent this season by racing past No. 16 Wheeling Jesuit, 97-86, at Joe Retton Arena. The Falcons also defeated then-No. 1 West Liberty at home back in December, and picked up road wins over then-No. 4 Wheeling Jesuit and No. 17 IUP earlier this season.
- Shammgod Wells, who recently became the school's all-time leader in career steals with 207, currently ranks second in school history in career assists with 496. He needs 30 more assists to overtake Brian Tristani (525) for first place in FSU history. Wells has the third-most steals (207) and fifth-most assists (496) among active NCAA Division II players this season.
- Thomas Wimbush, a redshirt-senior forward, needs just 31 more points to become only the 29th player in school history to score 1,500 or more points. Wimbush is currently 40^th among all active NCAA Division II players in career scoring.
- Matt Bingaya, who transferred to FSU after playing his first two seasons at NCAA Division I Southern Miss, needs just 51 more points to become only the fifth two-year player in Fairmont State men's basketball history to score 1,000 or more points in his two seasons with the Falcons. Bingaya currently has scored 949 points at FSU and 1,545 for his college career. Bingaya is currently 31^st among all active NCAA Division II players in career scoring.
- Senior center Trevor Andrews-Evans moved into second place in FSU history in last Saturday's 116-77 victory over Virginia-Wise in career blocked shots. Andrews-Evans has 207 career blocks, which ranked third-best among all active NCAA Division II players.