Bridgeport, W.Va. – For the third consecutive season a West Liberty University head coach has been named the Mountain East Conference Men’s Sports Coach of the Year, as men’s basketball coach Ben Howlett earned the honor for the first time in his career.

Howlett led West Liberty back to the title game of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2014 this past season, as the Hilltoppers finished as national runners-up with a record of 33-4 (20-2 MEC). WLU’s 33 wins were the program’s most since a school-record 34 set in 2012-13 and secured their first 30-win season since 2015-16 (sixth in program history).

The Hilltoppers extended NCAA Division II’s longest active postseason streak to 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and en route to the postseason won their sixth consecutive MEC regular season championship and second straight MEC Tournament championship.

Howlett, the West Virginia College Coach of the Year, coached Bryce Butler, Malik McKinney, and Christian Montague to All-MEC honors.

Butler was also named the Mountain East Conference and Atlantic Region Player of the Year while earning NABC and D2CCA All-American honors. WLU led all of DII in 3-point field goals per game (12.5), assists per game (21.9), and assist/turnover ratio (1.93), while also ranking second in scoring offense (99.6) and scoring margin (+18.8).