ATHENS,W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball was unable to hang on to a seven-point lead with two minutes left to regulation as they fell to the top-ranked West Liberty Hilltoppers, 113-107, in overtime Saturday afternoon at the Carter Center.
CU drops to 6-4 overall this season and 2-3 in Mountain East Conference play while WLU, who is ranked number one in the nation by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, improves to 10-0 and 5-0 in league play.
After a layup by junior forward
Jametrius Wade put the Mountain Lions up 96-89 with 2:24 left in regulation, consecutive three-pointers by the Hilltoppers cut the CU lead to 96-95 with 1:32 left in the game. However, the Maroon and Gray answered with a rim-rattling dunk from junior forward
Terry Hopewell putting the Mountain Lions up 98-95.
WLU was able to tie the game at 99 with 40 seconds left in regulation on two free throws after Hopewell converted from 1-of-2 free throws for CU six seconds prior. Neither team was able to score in the seconds of the second half sending the game to the extra session.
The Hilltoppers began overtime with an 8-2 run en route to the six-point win.
The most impressive thing about Concord's lead in the late stages of the second half was the fact CU trailed by as much as 17 in the half.
West Liberty had a 58-43 advantage at the intermission and opened up the second half with a bucket to extend its lead to 60-43. Concord went on a 19-7 run over a six-minute stretch to cut the lead to 67-62 with 13:59 left in the game.
The outburst was highlighted Wade who scored nine points, but five different Mountain Lions in senior guard
Mike Boyd, sophomore guard
B.J. Hamlet, Hopewell, sophomore guard
Aaron Miller and Wade scored for CU during the run.
Once the deficit was cut to five, West Liberty proceeded to run its lead back to 11, 75-64, with 11:55 left in the contest. Concord outscored WLU 32-14 over a nine-minute stretch to take its 96-89 lead.
Miller was the star of the run as he scored 11 of his 16 points including three three-pointers. Junior guard
Rob Reed also had five of his eight points in the run.
For the game, Hopewell and Wade both finished just shy of double-doubles as Hopewell scored a career-high 26 points and collected eight rebounds. Wade matched his personal best with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Hamlet had his season best in points with 18 points on 4-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. Boyd also finished just shy of a double-double with 13 points and a season-high nine assists.
CU finished better in points in the paint (58-50), fast break points (28-8) and assists (24-18).
The Mountain Lions will return to action 6:00 p.m. Monday night at home versus Wheeling Jesuit.
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