ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team used a 26-8 second-half run to roll by Notre Dame College, 85-72, in Mountain East Conference play at the Carter Center Saturday afternoon.
After 20 minutes of play, Concord (13-6, 9-5 MEC) and Notre Dame (10-10, 6-8 MEC) were tied at 29-29. The Mountain Lions held NDC to 35 percent shooting in the first half as CU outrebounded the Falcons 21-17 during that time.
Concord began the second half by scoring seven of the first 10 points as senior guards
Mike Boyd and
Paul Byrd each scored two points while sophomore guard
Aaron Miller knocked down a three-pointer.
The initial seven points would spark a big run by the Mountain Lions. Miller poured in 13 of his game-high 23 points during Concord's 26-8 run that span nearly the first eight minutes of the second half.
At the 12:32 mark of the second half, CU had run its lead out to 55-37. The Mountain Lions connected on four-three pointers during the run with Miller hitting three and junior guard
Rob Reed adding one  triple.
CU would open up a game-high 19-point lead, 58-39, after Miller buried another three-pointer at the 11:43 mark.
Boyd assisted on five Concord shot during the run as he finished with a game-high eight assists.
Notre Dame was never able to reduce the Mountain Lion lead to single digits as Concord converted from the free-throw line down the stretch to win by the 13-point margin.
Along with Miller, three other Concord players tallied double-figure scoring. Junior forward
Terry Hopewell notched his sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
Junior guard
Rob Reed came off the CU bench to score 17 points, his largest scoring output since Dec. 15 versus Bluefield State. Junior forward
Jametrius Wade record 11 points and nine rebounds, Wade's second consecutive game of nine rebounds.
Concord owned edges in rebounds (45-39), points in the paint (34-18) and points off turnovers (18-10).
A game after shooting 58 percent from three-point range, Concord again shot 50 percent from behind the arc (9-for-18) including 63 percent (7-for-11) in the second half.
The Mountain Lions will conclude their season-long five game home stand 7:30 p.m. Monday when they welcome in Urbana.
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