Box Score
WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the nation's top-ranked team in West Liberty University, but couldn't quite pull off the upset Saturday as the Mountain Lions fell to the Hilltoppers 97-92 in Mountain East Conference play at the Academic Sports and Recreation Complex in West Liberty, W. Va..
The Mountain Lions (5-6, 2-3 MEC) went 7-for-9 from three-point range and committed just three turnovers in the first 11 minutes of play to open up a 17-point lead, 41-24, over West Liberty (9-0, 5-0 MEC) before the Hilltoppers regrouped to end the half on a 32-10 run to take a five-point lead into the break.
Concord shook off WLU's late first-half run and hung with the nation's top team for the entirety of second half. The Mountain Lions continued to battle and found themselves trailing by just three points at 95-92 with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.
However, West Liberty's Shawn Dyer hit a pair of free throws down stretch to make it a two-possession game with 20 seconds to play to help the Hilltoppers narrowly avoid the upset.
For the game, Concord shot 50 percent from both the field overall (35-for-70) and from three-point range (11-for-22), but made just 11-of-21 free throw attempts.
In addition to holding advantages over West Liberty in field goal and three-point percentages, Concord dominated the rebounding battle 50-32.
Junior guard A.J. Williams just missed his first triple-double at CU with 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Sophomore forward
Terry Hopewell continued his strong play in his first season wearing the Maroon and Gray by going for his first double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Arguably the MEC's top shot-blocker, Hopewell also added two more rejections to his name Saturday.
Freshman guard
B.J. Hamlet and junior guard
Mike Boyd both contributed 18 points each. Hamlet was nearly automatic from three-point range early on and finished the contest with six made three-pointers. Boyd was 6-for-9 from both the field and the foul line while also passing out four assists.
Off the bench, the freshmen duo of forward
Jalen Camper and forward
Nathan Moats added eight and six points, respectively, with Moats pulling in six rebounds and Camper grabbing five of his own.
Concord's 92 points were the most by a CU team since last season's 92-81 win at West Virginia Tech on 12/15/2012.
The Mountain Lions will look to snap its three-game losing streak 6:00 p.m. Monday at Wheeling Jesuit.
