SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – In a game filled with plenty of scoring, it was consecutive stops on the defensive end that propelled the Concord University men's basketball team to a 99-97 road win at Notre Dame Sunday afternoon in Mountain East Conference play at Murphy Gymnasium.
The win improves the Mountain Lions to 9-4 overall and 4-3 in the league while Notre Dame falls to 9-4 overall and 3-4 in the MEC.
With CU clinging to a 98-97 lead with 15 seconds left to go, the Falcons were trying to inbound the ball in the front court. As the ball came in, senior guard
Rob Reed and junior guard
Cam Shannon trapped Notre Dame along the sidelines, forcing a turnover.
On the ensuing CU possession, Shannon was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws giving Concord a 99-97 lead. With the clock winding down, NDC point guard Tyree Gaiter raced down the sideline and was forced out of bounds again with just one second left.
The Mountain Lions safely in-bounded the ball, hanging on for a two-point victory.
The early stages of the game was tightly contested with neither team holding more than a six-point lead over the first 12 minutes.
With the Mountain Lions holding onto a 34-33 lead, Concord went on a 15-4 run to open up a 49-37 advantage. Junior guard
Aaron Miller and senior forward
Jametrius Wade powered the run by scoring five each.
CU would go on to hold a 54-46 lead at halftime.
The Maroon and Gray had their lead trimmed to 75-74 with 8:35 left in the game. However, the Mountain Lions ran off 12 of the next 15 points to hold an 87-77 lead. Two three-pointers, one each from Miller and Reed, helped CU grow the lead.
Notre Dame used a barrage of three-pointers late to trim the lead to one before the Concord defense stood tall.
A season-high six Concord players scored in double figures led by Miller with 29 points. Shannon scored a season-high 15 points. Meanwhile, Wade added 12 points and senior forward
Terry Hopewell just missed a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Junior guard
Michael Sanchez and Reed came off the bench to score 11 and 13 points, respectively.
Concord shot its second-highest percentage from the field of the season versus Notre Dame, going 35-for-66 (53.0 percent) from the field. CU was successful on 16 three-pointers, tying its season high, which was previously set against Johnson C. Smith.
NDC was led by Tyree Gaiter who scored 31 points.
CU plays at Urbana 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Â
