WHEELING — Eighth-seed Davis & Elkins put up a valiant effort before falling to top-seed West Liberty, 84-74, Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Mountain East Conference.

The Hilltoppers, ranked ninth nationally, advance to face the winner of Friday’s late game between No. 4 Charleston and No. 5 Glenville State at 6 p.m. today in the semifinals.

Second-seed Fairmont State and No. 6 Concord battle in the other semifinal at 8:30 p.m.

The Senators trailed 42-38 at halftime but forged ahead, 53-48, on a pair of free throws by Matthew Gray with 15:16 left in regulation.

Gray had a team-high 18 points on the night.

The teams shared the lead over the next 7 minutes of play and the contest was tied at 69-69 with 6:19 remaining.

West Liberty, however, closed the game on a 15-5 run to pull away.

Nnadozie Okoroji added 16 points and five rebounds for D&E. Vegas Evans chipped in 12 points and five caroms, Darrius Roach 10 points and four assists and Malachi Hampton eight points and 10 boards.

Jamie Muldowney led the Hilltoppers with 19 points and nine rebounds. Myles Montgomery chipped in 15 points, Peter Tattos 14 points and Hayden Abdulla 13 points.

The Senators finished the season with a 10-20 mark.

Fairmont State 80

Frostburg State 77

Basketball fans were treated to a gem Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the annual men’s Mountain East Conference Tournament here at WesBanco Arena.

Second-seeded Fairmont State rallied from a nine-point deficit in the game’s final 10:43 to record a thrilling 80-77 victory over seventh-seeded Frostburg State in a contest which wasn’t decided until the final two seconds.

The win, Fairmont’s fifth in a row and its 16th in its last 17 games, improved the Falcons to 25-4 and puts them in today’s 8:30 p.m. semifinals against sixth-seeded Concord (15-14).