Box Score
Game Highlights
ATHENS, W. Va. – Led by four players in double figures and a defensive effort that saw the Concord University men's basketball team allow just three field goals in the final five minutes of regulation, including a gritty defensive stand with just seconds left in the game, the Mountain Lions defeated West Virginia Wesleyan 77-75 Thursday night at the Carter Center.
With the win, Concord snaps a 10-game losing streak and improves its record to 6-13 overall and 3-10 in MEC play. The loss drops the Bobcats to 13-8 overall and 8-5 in league play.
Concord committed just four turnovers on the night, none of which came in the second half. The four miscues were Concord's fewest since it committed three turnovers vs. Wesleyan Feb. 1, 2012.
In addition to taking care of the ball, the Mountain Lions were an efficient 25-for-49 (51 percent) from the field, 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from three-point range and 19-for-25 (76 percent) from the foul line.
CU was paced by sophomore guard
Cam Shannon, who scored a team-high 15 points. Shannon worked his way to the foul line 12 times, converting eight of the attempts. Through the last five games, Shannon has averaged nine free throw attempts per game.
Joining Shannon as CU's leading scorers were junior guard
Paul Byrd (14 points), junior guard
Mike Boyd (13 points) and freshman forward
Jalen Camper (10 points).
Byrd, who made his third consecutive start, knocked down three three-pointers and shot 4-for-5 overall from the field. Camper also pulled in four rebounds while Boyd recorded team-highs of four assists and two steals in addition to scoring five of the Mountain Lions' final six points down the stretch.
Sophomore forward
Terry Hopewell added eight points, seven rebounds and three assists while sophomore forward
Taylor Smith came off the bench to chip in seven points in six minutes.
In a game which featured 11 lead changes and six ties, the Mountain Lions and Bobcats traded momentum throughout the opening portions of the first half until Concord rattled off eight-straight points to take a 23-15 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the period thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Byrd and a layup by Boyd that forced Wesleyan head coach Patrick Beilein to call a timeout.
The Mountain Lions extended their lead to as many as 10 points before the Bobcats trimmed the deficit down to just two (39-37) heading into halftime.
The second half featured more back-and-forth basketball with neither team leading by more than five points for the entirety of the stanza. Late in the game, Concord and Wesleyan traded the lead three times in less than a minute with the Bobcats coming away with a 75-74 edge with 54 seconds to play.
However, the Mountain Lions answered back when Boyd earned a trip to the foul line and calmly knocked down a pair of foul shots to allow CU to retake the lead 76-75 with 37 seconds showing on the clock.
On Wesleyan's ensuing possession, guard TJ Thompson drove inside from the baseline and missed a layup that was tightly contested by Hopewell, who in turn tipped the ball off Bobcat Chris Dewberry out of bounds, giving Concord the ball with just three seconds left to play.
After intentionally being fouled, Shannon converted 1-of-2 free throws and a desperation attempt from half court by Wesleyan fell short to give CU the win.
On the season, Boyd is 21-for-24 from the foul line inside the final three minutes of games.
For the game, Concord held advantages over West Virginia Wesleyan in points off turnovers (13-8), points in the paint (26-18), free throws made (19-18), assists (15-13), turnovers forced (10-4), steals (5-1).
The Bobcats were paced by Garrett Granthem's game-high 26 points.
Concord now heads north to take on Notre Dame College 4:00 p.m. Saturday and Urbana 7:30 p.m. Monday.
