THE OPENING TIP
Set to make a trip to one of the hardest places to win in the MEC, Davis & Elkins men's basketball takes on surging West Liberty on Wednesday night. D&E maintained its big lead to hold off West Virginia Wesleyan, 83-76, last Saturday at the McDonnell Center. Meanwhile, West Liberty has won nine consecutive games and enters the matchup atop the MEC standings capturing sole possession of first following a 98-86 road win at Wheeling.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
- Game 19: Davis & Elkins at Wesley Liberty
- When: Wednesday, January 29 (7:30 PM)
- Where: Academic Sports and Recreation Complex (ASRC) – West Liberty, W. Va.
- Records: Davis & Elkins (6-12, 4-8 MEC); West Liberty (15-3, 10-2 MEC)
- Live Video: Click Here
- Live Stats: Click Here
- Twitter Updates: @Senator_MBB
AROUND THE LEAGUE
SERIES HISTORY
- All-Time Series: West Liberty leads 8-0 (as of 2011)
- Last Meeting: December 7, 2019 – West Liberty 103, Davis & Elkins 73 | Recap | Box Score
- How It Happened: West Liberty's high-octane offense overwhelmed D&E in a 103-73 decision last December at the McDonnell Center. Myles Monroe dropped his first career 20-point game in a D&E uniform, finishing the day with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.
DAVIS & ELKINS NOTES
- Davis & Elkins was stellar at the foul line down the stretch to hold on for its win against West Virginia Wesleyan. Donte Doleman had a team-high 21 points in the conference matchup and leads the team in scoring average (18.4).
- Patrick Wilburn has started each of the past nine games for the Senators, but stepped up in a big way last week. He opened the slate against Fairmont State with 17 points, 13 rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes against the Falcons before following it up with 14 points, two rebounds and a career-high six steals against West Virginia Wesleyan.
- Mandela Baledrokadroka seems to get more comfortable with each passing game and ranks sixth in the MEC with 65 total assists and 3.8 assists/game.
- Erkam Kiris is averaging 18 points/game, 6.5 rebound/game and 2.0 blocks/game over the past four outings. He ranks second ion the team in scoring average (13.9) and first in rebounding average (6.3).
- Tyler Twyman has made two treys each in three of the last four games, seeing an uptick in minutes with a depleted lineup.
- Working off an injury, Myles Monroe chipped in 10 points and added five rebounds off the bench against WV Wesleyan. He has scored 10 or more points in 13 of his last 14 games.
- Daniel Mondragon and West Liberty assistant coach Mike Lamberti worked together on the coaching staff at Embry-Riddle (Fla.).
SCOUTING WEST LIBERTY
- West Liberty is second in the nation in scoring offense at 105.8 points/game, one of only two schools to average 100 points or better per contest. Currently three MEC schools (West Liberty, Glenville State, West Virginia State) are in the top five nationally in scoring offense.
- The Hilltoppers lead the country in scoring margin (+26.7).
- Dalton Bolon won the MEC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor after scoring his 1,500th career point in a win against Wheeling to propel West Liberty to the top of the league standings.
- Currently four players average double figures for West Liberty.
