WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Concord University men's basketball team held off a furious rally from Livingstone to defeat the Blue Bears, 86-79, in its second game at the Winston-Salem Classic Saturday night at the Gaines Center.
After senior forward
Jametrius Wade hit a free throw with 5:28 remaining in the game to give CU a 79-69 lead, Livingstone rattled off a 10-0 run to tie the game with 2:19 left in the contest.
However, the basket the Blue Bears got at the 2:19 mark would be the last time LC would score in the game. On Concord's ensuing possession, junior guard
Cam Shannon put CU ahead with a layup and then junior guard
Michael Sanchez hit a clutch three-pointer with 25 seconds left in the game.
Fellow junior guard
Aaron Miller sealed the game with two foul shots to give Concord an 86-79 victory to run its record to 2-0. Meanwhile, Livingstone fell to 0-2.
In a game that featured seven lead changes and four ties, the Mountain Lions led most of the way.
After having its halftime lead cut to two on the opening possession of the second half, Concord went on a 14-5 run fueled by senior guard
Rob Reed who had 12 of the points. With the run, Concord led 53-42 with 16:19 left in the game.
In fact, Reed scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half and hit five three-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
Miller scored a game-high 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 from three-point range.
Sanchez was the third Concord player to tally double figures with 14 points and his second straight game with seven assists.
Senior forward
Terry Hopewell and sophomore forward
Babe Murphy both added seven rebounds. For Murphy, it was a career-best on the boards.
Concord was able to outrebound the Blue Bears 41-33 and also made more three-pointers than Livingstone (12-7) while owning a better shooting percentage from behind the arc (50.0-29.2).
Cordero Holt led LC with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mountain Lions play at West Virginia State 4:00 p.m. Saturday, November 21.
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