Postgame Interviews: Kent McBride and Taylor SmithATHENS, W.Va. – Four players finished in double figures as the Concord University men's basketball team won its four straight game Thursday night at the Carter Center, defeating UVa.-Wise 92-55 in Mountain East Conference play.
Concord (11-5, 7-4 MEC) outscored UVa.-Wise (1-15, 0-11 MEC) 27-8 over the final 9:40 of the first half to turn a relatively close game into a blowout at halftime. The Mountain Lions were hanging onto a 20-12 lead with 9:40 remaining in the first half when the offense led by sophomore guard
B.J. Hamlet, who scored nine first half points, erupted for 25 of the first half's final 33 points. Junior guard
Rob Reed and junior forward
Taylor Smith each contributed five points during the outburst to give the Mountain Lions a 47-20 halftime lead.
Seven different CU players scored during the run, which was a theme in the game as all 12 Mountain Lions that played scored. Additionally, Concord had 24 assists on 35 made field goals, a season best.
The Maroon and Gray led by at least 25 points for the majority of the second half en route to the 37-point win which was the largest for the Mountain Lions since they beat Bluefield State by 38 February 25, 2012.
Junior guard
Rob Reed finished the game with a team-high 13 points. Hamlet and Smith both tallied 11 points and junior forward
Terry Hopewell chipped in 10. The Concord bench collectively recorded a season-best 53 points in the win.
Sophomore forward
Jalen Camper came within a point of notching his first career double-double as he led the Mountain Lions in rebounding with 11 to go along with nine points.
In fact, Concord owned a greater advantage on the boards than UVa.-Wise had total rebounds (49-24). Eleven of the 12 players for head coach
Kent McBride recorded at least two rebounds.
Along with the season-high in assists, the Mountain Lions committed a season-low in turnovers by only having eight. It was the first time they have finished a game in single digits in turnovers.
CU entered Thursday as the 18
th-best shooting team in Division II (50.3 percent). After its performance against the Cavaliers that number will only improve as Concord finished the game 53 percent from the field (35-for-66).
Concord nearly had more points in the paint (52) than UVa.-Wise had total points (55).
Thursday night marked the fourth time Concord has eclipsed 90 points this season, something the Maroon and Gray hasn't done since McBride's first season in 2011-12 when they surpassed 90 points seven times.
Concord will host Glenville State 4:00 p.m. Saturday, seeking revenge for an 83-81 overtime loss against the Pioneers earlier this season.
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