West Liberty came out hot from the opening tip and proved to be too much for Wheeling Jesuit as the Hilltoppers clinched a trip to the Mountain East Conference men's championship for the first time since 2014 with a 105-95 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday night at the Civic Center.
The Hilltoppers (26-3) will take on No. 1-ranked Fairmont State (29-1) in the championship game at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
"We came out of the blocks really well tonight. Not just shooting the ball, but our level of intensity was really good too," West Liberty coach Jim Crutchfield said. "It's not easy to play sometimes when you're up 19 in the second half against a team as talented as Wheeling.
"You don't want to take quick shots and shoot them back into the game but you also don't want to take your foot off the pedal and let them back in it that way. I thought we found a good happy medium."
After trailing by as many as 24 points in the first half, the Cardinals gradually stormed back into the game - working the deficit down to as close as 10 points in the final minutes.
Pat Moseh and Haywood Highsmith combined to score 30 points in the second half for the Cardinals after scoring just seven in the first 20 minutes. Moseh scored 19 points to lead the way for the comeback attempt.
But despite Wheeling Jesuit's best efforts, West Liberty came up big down the stretch, making 12 of 14 free throws in the game's final two minutes to preserve the victory.
"I'm proud of our guys. They bring it," Wheeling Jesuit coach Danny Sancomb said. "That was the least of my worries. I thought we could get back in the basketball game if our will was greater than theirs.
"At the start of the game they were just more ready than we were."
The Hilltoppers immediately set the tone in the first half. West Liberty knocked down seven of its first 10 shots and continue to build from there as they went on a few big runs and shot 64.7 percent before heading into the locker room with a 57-38 lead.
A big part of that success was thanks to Devin Hoehn. The senior from Parkersburg finished with 34 points, putting him in a tie for third-most in an MEC tournament game, and 18 of those came in the opening half.
"Devin is just now finding the groove, to be honest. He's played well all season, but I think right now he's looking more comfortable with the basketball," Crutchfield said. "He's a great 3-point shooter, but the key tonight was his ability to get in there 4 or 5 feet and score in a variety of ways."
Dan Monteroso had a big second half, scoring 19 of his 23 points as the game came to a close. Zac Grossenbacher added 16 points while James Griffin finished with 13 in the victory.
Moseh and Highsmith were joined in double figures by three other players for the Cardinals (23-7). Dominique Tham came off the bench to score 15 points and pull down seven rebounds while Kyle Ritz and Chase Lawson finished with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.