CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball lost in its first Mountain East Conference contest on the road to the University of Charleston at the Charleston Catholic Athletic Complex, 91-80.
CU (3-2, 1-1 MEC) came out swinging as they opened up a 12-2 lead on the Golden Eagles (4-0, 2-0 MEC) in the early stages behind three-pointers from junior guard BJ Hamlet and junior forward
Babe Murphy.
However, Charleston came right back with 13 unanswered points to grab a 15-12 edge. Concord continued to chase the lead until Hamlet knocked one of his four first-half three-pointers to give the Mountain Lions a 26-24 lead.
Senior guard
Aaron Miller put Concord ahead 31-25 after his own three-pointer, but once again Charleston had an answer going on a 14-7 run to grab a 39-38 edge in the closing minutes of the first half. But, senior forward
Stephen Thompson assured CU had the halftime lead by burying a corner three-pointer in the waning seconds of the opening 20 minutes.
Concord took a 41-39 lead into the locker room.
Thompson and senior guard
Michael Sanchez scored the first seven points of the second half for the Mountain Lions as Thompson connected from beyond the arc and Sanchez score a layup and hit foul shots.
With the game tied at 54-54 after a layup from Charleston's Elliott Cole, the Golden Eagles proceeded to go on an 18-8 run to take a 72-62 advantage.
Concord methodically worked the deficit down to 76-72 after Miller calmly laid in a left-handed layup. But Cole, who had 32 points, stroked home a three-pointer to run the advantage back to seven in favor of the Golden Eagles.
CU got back to within seven points on a couple of occasions for the remainder of the game, but Charleston made enough free throws down the stretch of the game to by 11 points.
Miller led the Mountain Lions with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Thompson finished with 15 points while Murphy added 11 points and seven rebounds. Hamlet scored all 14 of his points in the first half as he went a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc in the first half.
Cole was the game's leading scorer with 32 points as he hit six three-pointers.
The Mountain Lions will play a week from tonight when they travel to Bluefield State.
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