West Liberty Claims 2026 MEC Basketball Tournament Championship

By Bryan Dillon

For MountainEast.org

WHEELING, W.VA. – Top-seeded West Liberty never trailed and held off a comeback bid on the way to capturing its fifth MEC tournament championship, 93-88, over second-seeded Fairmont State on Sunday afternoon at WesBanco Arena.

West Liberty finishes the season with a 27-4 overall record, while Fairmont State closes out the year with a record of 26-5. Both teams will await the release of the Division II men’s tournament bracket this evening.

“It was a heck of a college basketball game,” said West Liberty Head Coach Michael Lamberti. “WesBance was very packed with a lot of energy. West Liberty and Fairmont State yet again. It has happened numerous times over the last couple of years, and I thought it was a classic Mountain East Conference championship game.”

As they did throughout the tournament in historical fashion, West Liberty’s defense stepped to the forefront, forcing Fairmont State into 19 turnovers, through eight steals. West Liberty tied the tournament record with 47 steals over three games, a record they set in 2025.

Freshman Myles Montgomery led the Hilltoppers defensively throughout the tournament, setting an individual steals record with 14, surpassing former Hilltopper JP Dragas' previous record of 11 set in last year’s tournament. Following the game it was announced that Montgomery was named tournament MVP after averaging 17.3 points per game and 4.6 steals per game.

When asked about winning the MVP and Mountain East Championship Trophies, Myles Montgomery said, ‘it feels really good, and it is a blessing to have this [trophy]. I could not have won [MVP], or we could not have all won [the tournament] without a whole team effort. I could not have done anything I have done without the coaches and all the players. We are a whole team, and we have more games to win.”

Speaking on his impact on the defensive end of the court, Montgomery said," Everybody knows we play really fast and trap a lot. I have fun doing it, the whole team does. We always say, let's just fly around, and that has been our motto all year. I can’t get steals if my teammates can’t get traps. We all just fly around, and I get fortunate a lot of times for the ball to land in my lap.

The strength in depth that the Hilltoppers showed throughout the tournament once again showed up on Sunday afternoon as Peter Lattos set the tone for WLU with 16 first-half points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Lattos finished with 18 total points, helping West Liberty to a 35-27 advantage in bench points.

Lattos was joined by four teammates in double digits, including Myles Montgomery and Hayden Abdullah with 13 points, Cam Williams with 12 points, and Aiden Davis with 11 points. Fairmont State was led in scoring by Drey Carter, who finished with a game–high 23 points, and David Jolinder, who added 15 points.

With a four-point lead with 13:07 remaining in the first half, Peter Lattos hit five of the next six field goals for the Hilltoppers, including a three-pointer with 8:56 remaining to open up a 12-point lead. Three minutes later, West Liberty went on an 8-0 run fueled by five points from Myles Montgomery to open up its lead to 19, before eventually taking a 51-30 advantage into the break. The 21 point halftime margin set a tournament record for the largest lead at the break of a championship game.

We came out pretty hot in the first half, hitting a lot of shots … and had a 21-point lead going into the half,” continued Lamberti. “I think that was huge for us because Fairmont really put their foot on the gas in the second half.”

“We came up a little short,” stated Fairmont State head coach Tim Koenig. “The turnovers in the first half really hurt us. We struggled to make shots from the perimeter and had some issues on the glass, but I am really proud of our fight and togetherness in the second half. We just ran out of time ... tonight we came up a little short. I am very grateful to get another practice. I do not know who we are going to play, but I am so grateful to have another opportunity to play a game.”

Fairmont State showed its fight in the second half. After West Liberty took its largest lead of the game, 24 points on the opening basket of the second half, the Falcons began to slowly chip away at the deficit. FSU mixed in a pair of 8-2 runs, which helped cut the lead to as little as three points. It was not enough as the Hilltoppers hit ten free throws over the final 1:04 to hold on to their lead. Drey Carter scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half for Fairmont State.

Ranked #2 and #3 in the last regional rankings update, West Liberty and Fairmont will find out their opponent in the upcoming NCAA Division II tournament when the final seeds are announced at 11:00 p.m. this evening.

Tournament Awards

Highest Scoring: Trey Simmons, Frostburg State

Commissioner's Heart & Hustle: Miguel Martinez, Fairmont State

All-Tournament Team

Bobacar Djigo, Concord

Trey Simmons, Frostburg State

Jalen Knott, Glenville State

Miguel Martinez, Fairmont State

Drey Carter, Fairmont State

Jamie Muldoeney, West Liberty

Cameron Williams, West Liberty

MVP - Myles Montgomery, West Liberty