Athens, WV- The Concord Mountain Lions, playing their best basketball of the season, welcomed in #6 ranked West Liberty State Hilltoppers. Concord shocked not only the Carter Center but also nation as they never faltered against West Liberty and defeated the Hilltoppers 102-99.
Concord proved that they could run with one of the best teams in the country against West Liberty. The Hilltoppers started the game by going up 8-2 and they led by as many as 8 points in the half.
Concord would respond quickly on the back of Anthony Lansdowne as he was 4-7 from three-point range as he had 18 points in the first half. Concord made 18 first half field goals (51%) and 6 three-pointers (40%).
Concord's quick paced offense matched the #6 West Liberty's offense as the teams went into the half tied at 48.
In the second half, West Liberty quickly took the lead at 50-48 but Concord would once again proceed to take control of the game. The game would go back and forth where Concord went up by as many as 6 points.
Late in the game (3:44) Concord took a 93-88 led as it looked as though they were ready to close out the upset against the #6 Hilltoppers. West Liberty would quickly respond. After two Banal foul shots and two Pelle foul shots, the Hilltoppers would take the ball away from Matt Parker. From there Corey Pelle would score the layup and take a one point lead with 2:33 left to go in the game.
It looked as so Concord was going to let the upset slip away. But the Mountain Lion players had other plans in mind. Dannie Parker would hit a layup and put Concord up for good. After a Mirich missed jumper, Rafee Smith would hit a three-pointer with one second on the shot clock and 56 seconds left in the game.
West Liberty could never recover and the Mountain Lions look as though they have “Restored the Roar” in Athens as they looked poised to make a WVIAC run. Concord defeated the league's top team and the #6 ranked Division II team 102-99.
Anthony Lansdowne led the Mountain Lions to the upset with 31 points and 4 rebounds. Dannie Parker added a huge double-double 23 points and 11 rebounds. Cordale Boyd rounded out the trio of Mountain Lions over 20 points with 20. Rafee Smith came off the bench to score 12 points none bigger than the three-pointer with 56 seconds left in the second half.
Concord (8-11, WVIAC 3-9) will be on the road to face the Ohio Valley on Monday, February 4th at 7:30 pm.
