BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team picked up a 71-59 non-conference win over Bluefield State Monday night at the Ned Shott Gymnasium.
The Mountain Lions (4-2) led for all but 4:50 of the game.
After BSC (1-7) jumped out on Concord 8-3. The Mountain Lions quickly erased the deficit with a 9-0 run that was highlighted by five points from senior guard
Cam Shannon and two points each from freshman forward
Patrick Eugene and senior guard
Aaron Miller. With 14:25 left in the first half, CU led 12-8.
Moments later, Concord was able to run its lead out to double digits with 9:20 remaining in the first half. Senior forward
Stephen Thompson tapped home his own missed layup to give the Mountain Lions a 23-12 lead. The advantage remained 10 or more for the remainder of the game.
At halftime, the Mountain Lions led 38-26 behind 50 percent shooting (15-for-30) in the first 20 minutes.
CU kept the pressure on the Blues in the second half as it forced 10 turnovers in the second half and eventually ran its lead to 20, 62-42, after consecutive free throws from senior guard
Michael Sanchez.
However, Bluefield State ripped off an 11-2 run to trim the deficit to 64-53 with 5:10 left.
Concord proceeded to hold Bluefield State scoreless for the next 4:42, and ran its lead back to 17, 70-53, in the process on two layups from Miller and a stick back from Thompson as CU held on a 71-59 victory.
Miller scored a team-high 16 points as four Mountain Lions finished in double figures. Sanchez tallied 13 points that included three made three-pointers. Shannon poured in a season-high 10 points while junior guard
B.J. Hamlet added 10 as well.
Thompson just missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds. The Beckley, West Virginia native swatted away a career-high three shots.
The Mountain Lions grabbed 12 more rebounds than Bluefield State as they owned a 46-34 edge on the glass. Seven different players in the Maroon and Gray had at least four rebounds including Thompson with 10 and Eugene with a career-high six boards off the bench.
In holding BSC to 59 points, it was the first time a Concord team held an opponent to under 60 points in a game since Feb. 21, 2015 when it held Shepherd to 53 points.
Concord jumps back into Mountain East Conference play 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Glenville State at the Carter Center.
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