FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- No. 16 Fairmont State Men's Basketball hosted No. 2 West Liberty in a rematch of their January 15^th clash at West Liberty. The Hilltoppers earned the 110-107 victory over the Fighting Falcons in overtime inside Joe Retton Arena. Fairmont State Athletics also honored six men's basketball seniors with Kyle Swaim, Brendan Paul, Briggs Parris, Cole VonHandorf, Seth Younkin, and Isaiah Sanders.

The Hilltoppers improved to 24-2 and 18-2 in Mountain East Conference play while Fairmont State is now 20-5 on the season and 15-5 in MEC action. WLU extends its win streak to 10 games after its last loss against the Fighting Falcons on January 15th, 2021 inside the "ASRC".

Parris had a team-high 26 points on 6-14 shooting with five three-pointers. Sanders finished with 22 points on the night and had 7 rebounds as VonHandorf and Zyon Dobbs each had 21 points in the contest. As a team, Fairmont State shot 44.7% (34-76) from the field with 9-18 from the three-point range.

For West Liberty, Bryce Butler scored 30 points on 14-19 from the field with six rebounds. Pat Robinson added 25 points and Marlon Moore and Christian Montague had 18 and 10 points respectively to round out the Hilltoppers in double figures. WLU went 59.0% (46-78) from the floor with six three-pointers and 12-23 from the free-throw line.

Fairmont State kept pace with the Hilltoppers throughout the first half as VonHandorf buried two free throws to give the Falcons the 25-24 margin. West Liberty answered with a 14-0 run to give the Hilltoppers the 38-25 at the 7:25 mark of the first half. The Hilltoppers maintained the 13-point margin and took the 58-45 lead into the halftime break.

The second half proved to be a different story than the first half and looked eerily similar to the game in West Liberty. In the January 15^th game at West Liberty, Fairmont State found themselves down 15 at halftime but earned the 100-97 win against the Hilltoppers with a 60-point second-half comeback. VonHandorf capped a 7-0 run for the Falcons to close the margin to five points. Parris hit a three-pointer with 11:27 remaining in regulation and VonHandorf gave Fairmont State its first lead at 74-73 since 10:11 of the first half.

West Liberty pulled ahead at 79-76 off a fastbreak layup by Hilltopper Pat Robinson at the 9:33 mark. Bryce Butler finished a layup to push the WLU lead to five points, but Fairmont State quickly scored and regained the 89-88 lead after two free throws by George Mangas.

Bryce Butler sent home a dunk to give the Hilltoppers the 95-94 advantage with 22 seconds remaining. Parris' shot with two seconds missed the mark but a technical foul on West Liberty's bench gave new life to the Falcons. Two free throws of the technical foul made by Parris gave the Falcons the one-point edge with half of second left. West Liberty's Robinson made the backend of his two free throws to send the game into the overtime period.

West Liberty scored the first bucket out of the break as Robinson drew a three-point opportunity the old-fashioned way. Parris on the ensuing offensive possession knocked in a three-pointer and earned a trip to the charity stripe to complete the four-point play. West Liberty's Viktor Kovacevic finished a fastbreak dunk to give WLU the 102-100 advantage as the Hilltoppers held on to the 110-107 victory inside Joe Retton Arena.

Fairmont State Athletics would like to thank the six men's basketball seniors for their dedication and commitment to Fairmont State. 

No. 16 Fairmont State Men's Basketball (20-5, 15-5 MEC) returns to Joe Retton Arena for a 4:00 p.m. contest with non-conference opponent Carlow University.
Blake Smith