WEST LIBERTY - Winding up a wild, successful sports weekend at West Liberty University, the Hilltoppers' men's basketball team ran its record to 3-0 Saturday night with a 90-69 conquest of backyard rival Wheeling Jesuit University at the ASRC.

Earlier in the day, the Hilltoppers' campus was ecstatic over the Hilltoppers football team's 84-63 victory against Edinboro in an NCAA Division II first-round spellbinder earlier in the day at Russek Field.

Junior guard Corey Pelle sparked a 36-11 run during the first 9:41 of the second half with 12 of his 18 points to complete a weekend sweep for coach Jim Crutchfield's hoopsters in the Hilltoppers Classic. The two-day event began Friday when West Liberty shattered a pair of school records by scoring 145 points and posting a 75-point victory margin with a 145-70 rout of Pitt-Titusville.

Pelley was joined in double-figures by teammates Barry Shetzer with 17 points and Mike Mathey with 13, while John Wolosinczuk and Jordan Fortney netted 11 tallies each. Fortney came off the bench early in the first half and swished back-to-back triples to give West Liberty a 10-point lead at one stage before the Cardinals put on a late run to pull within 42-39 at the break.

Wheeling Jesuit sophomore guard Andre Harris tallied 11 of his game-high 19 points during the opening 20 minutes as the long-time rivals battled back-and-forth with the lead exchanging hands seven times.

When Pelle, the veteran 6-foot senior guard out of Silver Grove, Ky. found his shooting hand, West Liberty's high-octane running game got untracked as well to turn the game in West Liberty's favor.

With the score at 44-41 early in the second half, Pelle swished his first triple of the night from the right wing. Just a minute later, he converted on a stop and pop jumper from 10 feet along the baseline. Mike Mathey then swiped an errant Cardinal pass near midcourt and found Pelley sailing to the basket for an easy layup that put the 'Toppers lead back into double digits at 55-45.

''Pelle can always come up with the exciting plays,'' Crutchfield said. ''He is going to get some steals and a few breakaways. But we also want him to be more solid in all phases of the game. He did that tonight by getting in front of guys with his halfcourt defense.

''For sure, he is one of the more athletic players I have ever coached.''

Ignited by Pelle's hot start to the second half, West Liberty went on to outscore the Cardinals 21-10 the first 5:42 as the Hilltoppers opened the advantage to 14 points at 63-49. After Scott Mirich's layup, Pelley's kickout pass to Shetzer resulted in another trifecta and a 68-49 lead.

The Hilltoppers later opened the gap to 81-51 just past the 10-minute mark on Wolosinczuk's bonus bomb from 20 feet. With the game well in hand, Crutchfield was able to utilize his bench down the stretch as Wheeling trimmed its final deficit to 21 points.

Overall, it wasn't a good shooting night for West Liberty. After a cold 13-for-38 effort in the first half, the Hilltoppers' finished at 29-of-80 for just 36 percent.

''We played about 13 minutes of very good basketball,'' Crutchfield said.

However, he also pointed out that he couldn't be more pleased with the Hilltoppers' 3-0 start.

''I think we are sharing the ball well and playing as as a team. It is nice to see some guys who have been here for a while in reserve roles that are now stepping up and becoming front-line players.

''It's still early in the year and we've got a long way to go, but I like what I have seen so far,'' he added.

Missing from the Wheeling Jesuit lineup last night were Brian Yahn and Obi Ukwuoma, both of him sustained injuries in the Friday's overtime victory against Bethany.

Joining Harris in double figures for the Cardinals was Steve Catich with 10 points. The 6-5 Harris's night also included 10 rebounds, five blocked shots and three steals.

Although the Cardinals managed to come out of their season-opening weekend with a 1-1 record, Coach Danny Sancomb was far from pleased.

''We did not play very well in either of our games,'' he said. ''It's hard to contain a team like West Liberty when you don't take care of the ball. They only shot 36 percent tonight but their pressure hurt us at times and they were able to score off our turnovers.''