Seger Bonifant, the Mountain East Conference's Player of the Year, sat on the bench for three minutes and 42 seconds midway through Friday's second half. The 6-foot-7 senior was saddled with four fouls and West Liberty coach Jim Crutchfield needed to save the star for the stretch run.
Bonifant re-entered the game with 11:33 and the No. 1 Hilltoppers tied with Glenville State. He scored his team's next 13 points - and the MEC tournament's top seed needed every one of them.
West Liberty survived a game that was tied 10 times and had 12 lead changes, defeating No. 9 seeded Glenville State 73-71 in the men's quarterfinals at the Charleston Civic Center.
"The expression survive and advance, I've never used that but I think I am going to use it today," Crutchfield said. "I feel that way today.
"It didn't go as planned, but I'm really glad to win the game."
West Liberty (27-2) frittered away all of its 10-point halftime lead because, in large part, of the play of Glenville State's Brett Morris. The 6-4 junior from Webster County scored 18 of his team-high 27 points in the first 7:08 of the second half, a stretch where the Pioneers (11-19) erased a deficit as large as 11 points to tie it at 45-45 with 12:52 left.
Bonifant spent a chunk of that stretch watching from the sidelines. After scoring 14 first-half points and adding another basket early in the second half, Bonifant picked up his fourth foul with 15:09 left of the second half. He immediately went to the bench with West Liberty holding a 44-37 lead.
Glenville State went on a 10-2 run with Bonifant sidelined, a spurt that included consecutive 3-pointers by Morris to make it 45-45. Glenville State took the lead moments later when Jalon Plummer finished a breakaway with a dunk.
It was a startling turn of events for the nation's top-ranked team and MEC regular-season champion. West Liberty swept Glenville State during the regular season by scores of 125-78 and 114-75. The Hilltoppers averaged 119.5 points in those meetings and won by an average margin of 43 points.
"I think the most impressive part of the game was Glenville today," Crutchfield said. "I was there when we beat them by 40 at home and 40 on the road."
The game was tied six times in the final 10:46, the final time at 68-68 with 1:36 left. The Pioneers had entered the MEC tournament on a four-game losing streak.
"I thought our guys fought and fought and fought," Glenville State coach Stephen Dye said. "I thought we did some things in the second half we haven't done in a long time."
The Pioneers took the lead, 70-69, on a pair of free throws by Morris with 43.7 seconds left. Bonifant answered by slashing down the lane and finishing with his right hand to put West Liberty up 71-70 with 35 seconds left.
Glenville State then squandered an opportunity to take the lead after inbounding the ball under its own basket with 7.4 seconds left. West Liberty foiled the plan and sank two free throws to push the lead to three points, 73-70, with 4.7 seconds left.
The Hilltoppers fouled the Pioneers before a game-tying 3-pointer could be attempted, and after Sedric Nady made his first free throw and intentionally missed his second with 3.1 seconds left, Plummer's game-tying shot hit the top of the backboard and dropped out of bounds as the horn sounded.
"We made a few shots down the stretch, made our free throws down the stretch, got the one stop when we needed it," Crutchfield said, "and now we're in the semifinals."
Bonifant, who averages 24.4 points, finished with a game-high 32 - his seventh 30-point game this season and 14th of his career. He made 9 of 12 field goals, 2 of 3 3-pointers and 12 of 14 free throws.
Teammate Zac Grossenbacher added a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Devin Hoehn chipped in with 12 points, seven boards and five assists.
Nady scored 23 points with five rebounds and five assists for Glenville State.
West Liberty will play in Saturday's semifinals at 6 p.m. against the winner of Friday's late game between Concord and Charleston.