BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team erased a 17-4 deficit in the first half and only allowed 24 points to West Virginia Wesleyan over the final 30 minutes of the game as they defeated the Bobcats 54-41 Sunday afternoon in Mountain East Conference action.
The Mountain Lions improve to 5-3 overall and 2-2 against league foes while WVWC falls to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in conference action.
CU was held to just four points over the first 10 minutes of the game. However, Concord swung the momentum in its favor as they outscored the Bobcats 23-3 over the final 10 minutes of the first half to grab a 26-20 lead at the break.
Sophomore guard
Aaron Miller scored 15 of his game-high 20 points during the elongated offensive outburst for the Mountain Lions. As Miller was scoring, the Maroon and Gray was playing stout defense as they held West Virginia Wesleyan to six shots during the stretch, all misses, and forced six turnovers.
For much of the opening minutes of the second half, the contest was played within a 10-point range with Concord briefly grabbing a double-digit, 31-20, at the 16:47 mark of the second half after a made foul shot form senior guard
Mike Boyd.
Two quick buckets by WVWC closed the gap to 31-24 with 15:37 before the Mountain Lions made a 17-10 run that spanned over eight minutes. Junior forwards
Terry Hopewell and
Jametrius Wade each scored six points during the run for CU. With 7:37 left in the contest, Concord held a 48-34 advantage.
The Mountain Lions smothered the Bobcats over the remainder of the game to win by the 13-point margin. Over that time, WVWC was just 2-for-10 from the field.
In addition to his 20 points, Miller finished one rebound short of a double-double, collecting a career-high nine. Wade also finished in double figures with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Defensively for Concord, Hopewell erased three shots for his second game this season of at least three blocks. The Mountain Lions also had eight steals with junior guard
Rob Reed making a career-high four steals. Boyd, Miller, junior forward
Taylor Smith and Wade each collected one steal.
CU held West Virginia Wesleyan to 25 percent shooting (12-for-48) from the field, the first time CU has held its opposition to less than 35 percent since the 2012-13 season when they held the WVWC to 34 percent shooting.
After playing on the road or at neutral sites for the first eight games of the season, Concord will play five of its next six games at the Carter Center beginning with the home opener December 15 versus Bluefield State.
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