Miller Scores 35 Points as Concord Beats Shepherd 80-74

ATHENS, W.Va. – Behind a career-high 35 points from sophomore guard Aaron Miller, the Concord University men's basketball team defeated Shepherd 80-74 Monday night at the Carter Center in Mountain East Conference action.

The win for CU moves its record to 9-5 overall and 5-4 in the MEC. The Mountain Lions have now won more games this season than they did all of last season. Shepherd, who started Monday tied for 10^th in the D2SIDA regional poll, falls to 10-5 and 5-4 against league competition.  

Miller did the most of his damage in the first half when he scored 20 of his 35 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.

It appeared from the start that Miller was going to have a good night as he scored seven of CU's first 11 points. Concord held an 11-5 lead over the first five minutes of action.

The Mountain Lions extended their lead to 27-14 in the next eight minutes. Junior guard Rob Reed scored seven of the 15 points with Miller also chipping in five during the run.

Shepherd outscored Concord 18-10 over the final six minutes of the half to trim the CU lead to 37-32 at halftime.

The Rams were able to put pressure on the Mountain Lions a few times in the second half, but never could overtake Concord.

Shepherd trailed by five or less points for the first seven minutes of the second half. With CU leading 56-53 with 12:53 left in the game, Concord scored the game's next nine points to stretch its lead to 65-53 with 9:54 remaining.

Senior guard Mike Boyd scored five points for CU in that time span.

SU could get no closer than five minutes for the remainder of the contest as they went on to win by the six-point margin.

Miller's 35-point outburst was the third-highest scoring total by a single player in the MEC this season as he finished 13-of-18 from the field and 6-for-10 from three-point range.

Junior forward Jametrius Wade collected his third double-double of the season by finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Monday marked the fifth time in six games that Boyd had seven or more assists in a game after handing out seven assists to go along with 13 points.

Junior forward Terry Hopewell matched Wade in rebounds with 11 as Concord outrebounded SU 39-35.

A game after shooting 60.4 percent from the field, CU shot 53.4 percent (31-for-58) from the field. Monday was also the fifth time in six games, the Maroon and Gray has registered 80 or more in a game.

The Rams were led by Ryan McTavish who scored 17 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Concord will get a much-deserved rest after playing five games in nine days as it will next play at West Virginia State 4:00 p.m. Saturday.