WEST LIBERTY, West Virginia- As the regular season gets closer to an end, the Salem Tigers men's basketball team has two more road games. On Wednesday, the Tigers traveled to West Liberty for a contest against the Hilltoppers. Salem looked to pull off the huge road upset, but West Liberty's offense exploded for a 162-106 victory.

In the first half, Salem jumped out to a slight 10-8 lead after an Isaac James layup just below the 16-minute mark. A few possessions later, Daquan Coleman drained a triple to give the Tigers the 15-11 lead. However, across the next five minutes of play the Hilltoppers would go on an 19-10 run. With 10 minutes left in the half, West Liberty led 34-21. The Hilltoppers were able to extend their lead to 20 with five minutes remaining. The Tigers found themselves in desperation mode early and needed to cut the deficit down. Unfortunately, West Liberty would maintain a commanding 74-45 lead as we headed into intermission. 

In the second, West Liberty picked up right where they left off. The Hilltoppers now led 98-61 with 15 minutes left in the play. The Tigers offense was able to get some things going across the midway point of the second half, but the Hilltoppers offense was not letting up. West Liberty had a huge 129-82 lead with 9 minutes left. Salem's defensive struggles continued as the half wore on and West Liberty continued to take advantage of that to close the game out. West Liberty secured the victory by a final score of 162-106.
 
On the stats sheet, Jalen Barnes led the way for the Tigers with 31 points on 10/13 from the field. Isaac James had 25 points and 8 rebounds. Jack Garrison IV added 17 points. Tyree Davis had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. 
 
After the road loss, the Tigers will have one more chance to close out the season on a high note. That final opportunity will come on March 1^st when the Tigers head to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a 4 pm match up against the Point Park Pioneers.