ELKINS, W.Va. – Davis & Elkins men's basketball trailed by just one at the break before the 22nd-ranked West Liberty Hilltoppers pulled away in the second half in a 77-59 loss on Monday night in a rescheduled contest from the McDonnell Center.
Davis & Elkins (3-12) slowed the tempo of the game and limited high-powered West Liberty (11-3) to its second-lowest scoring total of the season.
Breland Walton paced the Senators with 16 points and nine rebounds, one of four players in double figures for the hosts.
Sam Rolle IV slashed through the Hilltopper defense for 14 points and handed out eight assists.
Kyle Leslie and
Gyasi Powell had 11 points each for D&E, which shot 38.9% on the evening.
WLU received a game-high 19 points from Dalton Bolon and Bryce Butler added 16 more. Pat Robinson posted 15 points and four rebounds while Malik McKinney finished with 13 points and six boards. The Hilltoppers were held to just 31.6% shooting from the floor and 3-of-22 from deep in the opening 20 minutes.
The seventh-straight victory moved the Hilltoppers into sole possession of first place in the Mountain East Conference North Division.
The Senators surrendered a pair of triples less than a minute in and called a quick timeout. From there, D&E worked its way to a 13-13 tie before WLU regained the advantage for the next few minutes. A 5-0 burst, capped by a jumper from Rolle, sliced the deficit to 27-25 with 5:27 left in the opening half.
Walton connected on a three to make it a one-point deficit once again and added a pair of foul shots to lift Davis & Elkins in front, 31-30, with 2:07 left in the half. Robinson stuck a late jumper with just four ticks left in the frame to push WLU to a 33-32 edge at the intermission.
The visitors would not look back, leading the entire second half and eventually moving their lead to double figures around the under-10 media timeout.
Nate Vance knocked down a three from the right wing to bring D&E to within 48-42 before West Liberty pulled away with a 10-2 run.
Playing just an eight-player lineup, the Senators were outscored 21-3 in bench points.
The Senators continue a busy final week of the regular season with Senior Night on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30 PM against West Virginia State.
