Concord Falls Late to Shepherd, 90-83

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va-The Concord University men's basketball team fell 90-83 on the road to Shepherd Monday Night at the Butcher Center.

Concord falls to 8-3 on the season (3-2 MEC), while Shepherd improves to 6-5 overall (1-4 MEC).   

Concord came out strong in the first half, taking an early lead right from the get-go.  Senior forwards Terry Hopewell and Jametrius Wade combined for 8 of the first 12 Concord points, including a dunk from Wade to cap off the Mountain Lions success in the paint early on.

Hopewell and Wade combined for 21 points in the opening 20 minutes and grabbed 15 total rebounds, they also combined to shoot 9-of-11 from the field.

Behind Hopewell and Wade, CU gained its biggest lead of the half after senior guard Rob Reed went coast-to-coast on a Shepherd turnover to make the score 33-17. However, Shepherd stormed back with a 19-8 run to close the half and make the score 41-36 in favor of the Mountain Lions after the opening 20 minutes.

Concord extended their lead to 10 points early in the second half of play as junior guard Aaron Miller put back own rebound to give the Mountain Lions a 58-51 lead.    

Hopewell then added a layup through contact and sunk the following foul shot to extend Concord lead to 10 at 61-51.

The two teams continued to exchange baskets for much of the rest of the half, including Hopewell adding 10 more points to bring his total to 25 points for the game, one point shy of his career-high.  He also grabbed 16 rebounds to tie his career-high for boards as well.    

Concord tried to put the lead out of reach after junior guard Cam Shannon nailed a three-pointer to reaffirm Concord's lead to six at 77-71.

However, Shepherd would go on a 7-0 run before Wade answered with two free throws to give Concord a narrow 79-78 lead. 

Miller put away a layup to tie the game at 81 with 2:23 remaining, before Shepherd answered with four points of their own to take an 85-81 lead with 1:34 left in the ball game. But, the Rams converted at the foul line to stall any CU comeback attempt.

In addition to Hopewell's double-double, Wade added his own double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Reed finished with 13 points.

Concord will now visit the seventh-ranked Fairmont State Fighting Falcons on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff in a Mountain East Conference matchup.