BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – After falling behind Bluefield State 18-9 eight minutes into the game, the Concord University men's basketball team outscored the Blues 26-15 over the final 12 minutes of the first half en route to an 81-66 win at the Currence Classic at the Ned Shott Gymnasium.
With the win, the Mountain Lions are 5-0 while BSC falls to 0-5.
Junior guard
Aaron Miller sparked the Concord outburst in the first half as he scored 14 of CU's final 26 points of the first half.
After some back-and-forth action to begin the second half, the Mountain Lions led 42-37 with 15 minutes left in the game. However, Concord began to pull away from the Blues shortly thereafter as it went on a 19-9 run over the next seven minutes.
The CU really was spearheaded by senior forward
Terry Hopewell and senior guard
Rob Reed as they scored six and seven, respectively, during the run. With 8:20 remaining in the game, the Mountain Lions led 66-51.
Over the final eight minutes of the game, the closest Bluefield State would get was within seven as the Mountain Lions went on to win 81-66.
CU used a well-balanced scoring effort as it had four double-double digit scorers in a game for the second time this season. Miller topped all Mountain Lions with 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
Reed finished with 18 points while Hopewell and senior forward
Jametrius Wade both collected double-double in the game.
Hopewell gathered 14 points and 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double while Wade had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
With Hopewell and Wade leading the rebounding effort, CU outrebounded the Blues 48-43. Junior guard
Kamal Shasi also came off the bench to finish with a career-high five rebounds.
The Mountain Lions limited Bluefield State to 31.5 percent shooting (23-for-73) while they shot 45.8 percent (27-for-59).
Concord will seek to start the season 6-0 for the first time since 2003-04 when it started 7-0 when it takes on Johnson C. Smith Saturday 2:00 p.m. at the Currence Classic in Bluefield, West Virginia.
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