Box Score
ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team lost a Mountain East Conference contest to fifth-ranked West Liberty University, 97-76, Thursday night at the Carter Center.
Concord (7-15, 4-12 MEC) led by as many six points in the opening period and trailed by just two points at halftime, but couldn't overcome a 20-3 second-half run by West Liberty (19-1, 15-1 MEC).
Concord (7-15, 4-12 MEC) finished the game with three players that scored at least 10 points led by junior guard
Mike Boyd, who came away with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 effort from the free throw line. Boyd's 18-point performance marked the eighth time this season that he has scored at least 18 in a game.
Sophomore forward
Taylor Smith chipped in a career-high 12 points and matched a personal best with five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Fellow sophomore
Cam Shannon scored 11 points while shooting 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.
The Mountain Lions also received offensive help from the reserve trio of freshman guard
Ali Barnes (eight points), freshman forward
Grant Dickinson (seven points) and freshman guard
B.J. Hamlet (six points). Dickinson pulled down four rebounds in addition to his scoring efforts.
The first half of play was a back-and-forth affair that included nine ties and eight lead changes. Shannon got Concord off to a good start early by attacking the rim and earning four free throws in the opening minute of play, three of which he connected on. Boyd and junior guard
Paul Byrd followed suit with baskets to push the Mountain Lions to an 8-8 tie with West Liberty with 15:37 left to play in the opening period.
Both teams proceeded to trade baskets throughout the remainder of the half with neither being able to gain a sizeable advantage. After a successful free throw by Dickinson that put Concord up by one point with 33 seconds left in the half, WLU's Cedric Harris managed to score a layup and draw a foul with just three seconds showing on the clock. Harris would make his foul shot to send West Liberty into the break leading by a narrow 41-39 margin.
However, West Liberty's aforementioned run to start the second period proved to be too much for Concord as the Hilltoppers used a 60 percent (21-for-35) shooting performance in the second half to ensure the 97-76 win.
For the game, Concord held advantages over West Liberty in rebounding (35-32) and second chance points (19-11). As a team, the Mountain Lions shot 40.6 percent (26-for-64) from the field, and 75 percent (18-for-24) from the foul line.
CJ Hester led the Hilltoppers by scoring 25 points on an impressive 11-of-12 night from the field.
Concord finishes off its mini-two game homestand 3:00 p.m. Saturday vs. Wheeling Jesuit.
