MBB: PICK SIX

CU ROUTS BLUEFIELD STATE, FINISHES 6th IN WVIAC

Romel Kemp (JL)
The Concord men's basketball team went into Saturday's meeting with Bluefield State figuring it had a good chance to finish in the top half of the WVIAC, and get home-court advantage for the first round of the conference tournament.

But there was the matter of defeating the Big Blues, in a rivalry game, at the Carter Center.

The Mountain Lions routed BSC, 108-68, and that, combined with the University of Charleston's win at West Virginia State, moved up CU one spot to 6th place in the conference standings.

It's the Mountain Lions highest finish since a 4th-place showing in 2006-2007.

Bluefield State went into Saturday's game on a 23-game losing streak that dropped their record to 1-24.  But the Big Blues made six of their first 13 shots to tie the score at 16-16 going into the game's first media timeout.

After that, however, it was all Concord, on Senior Day.

The Mountain Lions went on a 15-3 run to take a 31-19 lead with 9:44 left in the 1st half.  CU closed out the half with 23-8 rally over the final 5:08 to take a 57-31 lead into halftime.

Javaughn Manuel (JL)
Concord pushed its advantage to 35 points – 68-33 – early in the 2nd half and would allow the Big Blues no closer than 30 points the rest of the day.

The 108 points were a season-high for the Mountain Lions and the most in a game since February 20, 2010, when CU tallied 113 in a five-point loss to West Virginia State in the Carter Center.

Saturday, Concord shot a robust .530 (44-83) from the field while limiting the Big Blues to .393 (24-61).  The Mountain Lions made nine of 18 three-point shots and had 23 assists.  CU outrebounded Bluefield State by a remarkable 60-29, including an impressive 28-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.

All 12 Mountain Lions scored, five in double figures.  Romel Kemp led the way with 19 points (shooting 8-14 from the floor), while Javaughn Manuel added 16.  Jordan Davis made six of nine shots to finish with a career-high 14 points, while Gentry Shrewsbury and Burnell Granderson posted a season-high 12 points apiece.

Alex Webb led Bluefield State (1-25, 0-22) with 23 points.

BOXSCORE / PLAY-BY-PLAY
(statistics provided by CU SID GA Becky Brouse)

Jordan Davis (JL)
Up next for Concord (15-11, 12-10) is a matchup with Ohio Valley in the first round of the WVIAC Tournament.  The Mountain Lions will host the Fighting Scots on Tuesday, February 28, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 pm at the Carter Center.

Concord split its two regular season meetings with OVU, falling 88-84 in Vienna on January 9 and winning 88-74 on February 11 in Athens.

Tuesday's game will be broadcast on News/Talk AM 620/101.1 FM WWNR, starting with the “Mountain Lions Preview Show” at 6:40 pm.  Links to Live Stats, streaming video and the radio webcast can be found in the navigation bar near the top of the men's basketball homepage here on www.cumountainlions.com.



(photos by Jennifer Logan)



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