MBB: TOUGH CHORE

2nd HALF SURGE LEADS CHARLESTON PAST MOUNTAIN LIONS

Mike Boyd
The Concord men's basketball knew it would face a difficult chore when it hosted the University of Charleston Wednesday night.

The Golden Eagles came into the Carter Center at 21-5, ranked #3 in the Atlantic Region and #25 in the latest NABC national poll, and on a nine-game winning streak that had propelled them to 2nd place in the WVIAC.

“They are playing really well right now,” said CU head coach Kent McBride before Wednesday's game.  “They'll come out and pressure you on defense.  Eladio Espinosa is a rebounding beast and PJ Reyes is one of the most athletic players in the conference, and he's one of the best players, too.  They're going to be intense.  We're going to have to work hard to play with you guys.”

The Mountain Lions put in their work, but a cold-shooting 2nd half led to a 69-64 defeat that ended their four-game winning streak.

Concord fell behind 11-3 less than five minutes after tipoff, but reeled off a 20-3 run – featuring a stretch of four consecutive made shots, from Jordan Davis, Mike Boyd, Damien Tunstalle and Javaughn Manuel – to go ahead 23-14 with 7:21 left in the 1st half.

The lead grew to as much as 12 points, at 30-18, and CU took a 35-26 lead into halftime.

Charleston blitzed CU by scoring the first six points of the 2nd half, part of an 18-8 rally that put the Golden Eagles ahead 44-43 with 14:44 on the clock.  The Golden Eagles expanded their advantage to 54-48 with 10:16 left, but CU didn't let them pull away.

Corey Neeley Shot
Concord closed within one point twice, the last time at 65-64 after two Manuel free throws with 1:27 to go.  But UC answered with a dunk from Espinosa on its next trip, and after a Concord turnover Marcus Knott's driving layup with :32 left closed out the scoring.

Concord shot just .280 (7-25) from the floor in the 2nd half and finished at .350 (21-60).  The Mountain Lions limited Charleston to .267 (8-30) in the 1st half, but UC recovered to shoot .483 (14-29) in the 2nd.

Charleston went into Wednesday's game with a rebounding margin of +8.2, the 6th-best in the nation.  Concord held a 29-21 edge at halftime, but UC out-boarded the Mountain Lions 28-17 – including 11-3 in offensive boards – in the 2nd half.

Romel paced Concord with 18 points, nine in each half.  Corey Neeley came off the bench for 15 points, 11 in the 2nd half, while Manuel finished with 14.

Espinosa topped Charleston (22-5, 17-4) with a double-double of 16 points and 21 rebounds, and shot 7-12 from the field.  Reyes – the nation's 19th-leading scorer -- had a pedestrian 6-16 shooting night, but was 9-10 from the line to finish with a game-high 23 points.  He also grabbed seven rebounds.
BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY
(statistics provided by CU SID GA Becky Brouse)

Up next for Concord (14-11, 11-10) is its regular season finale.  The Mountain Lions host Mercer County rival Bluefield State in a 4:00 tip-off at the Carter Center.  The game is part of Concord's “Girls & Boys In Sports Day.”

The game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 102.3 The Ticket, as part of a doubleheader with the women's game.  Air-time is 1:40 pm.

Links to Concord's Live Stats, streaming video and The Ticket's webcast can be found in the navigation
Bar near the top of the men's basketball homepage here on www.cumountainlions.com.







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