ATHENS, W.Va- The Concord University men's basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat Urbana University 93-90 on Thursday night at the Carter Center.
Concord improves to 17-8 overall (12-7 MEC) while Urbana drops 1-23 overall (0-19 MEC).
Urbana jumped out to an early lead on the Mountain Lions after Dimitri Abner made a layup with 9:42 left in the first half to put the Blue Knights ahead 24-14, their largest of the game.
Concord kept chipping away at the lead, cutting the deficit to just three after senior forward
Taylor Smith made a block on the defensive end to start a fast break, grabbed the offensive rebound on the other end, and put back a layup to provide a boost to the Concord offense with 3:12 remaining in the first half.
The two teams traded shots for the rest of the half, with Concord getting a big bucket after senior forward Terry Hopwell made a nice pass to find senior forward
Jametrius Wade by himself in the paint. Wade hammered a dunk with just six seconds left to give the Mountain Lions an injection of momentum heading into halftime.
The Mountain Lions started to heat up with 13:12 left in the second half, making five consecutive shots to help start a Concord rally that made the score 60-52 after trailing by five points.
Concord's lead was the first since the 18:09 mark in the first half after senior guard
Rob Reed connected on an old school three-point play to give the Mountain Lions a 54-52 advantage with 12:14 left in the second half. Reed, Wade, junior guard
Aaron Miller and junior guard
Michael Sanchez each hit shots for Concord during the run that saw CU take the lead for good, including Reed scoring eight of the 13 points.
Concord held off the Blue Knights for the rest of the game, pushing the lead to 12 after Urbana rallied to cut the deficit to two with 7:42 remaining.
The Mountain Lions went on another run, this time 7-0, after freshman guard
Tommy Bolte made a layup to make the score 73-64 with 6:19 remaining. Concord withstood a late charge by Urbana late, with Sanchez, Reed, junior guard
Kamal Shasi, and junior guard Cameron Shannon combining to go 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the final 3:10 of the game.
Reed led the Mountain Lions in scoring for the night, scoring 29 points while going 9-for-18 from the field. Wade also had a big night for the Mountain Lions, scoring 19 points while grabbing a season-high 16 rebounds. He also added nine offensive rebounds.
Miller also scored in double figures, adding 13 points, going an efficient 5-for-7 from the floor. Wade and Hopewell combined for 27 of Concord's 47 rebounds on the night, helping Concord gain a decisive 47-35 advantage on the glass, and also give them an edge in second chance points 22-10. Concord also attacked the paint well, outscoring the Blue Knights 54-34 inside.
Concord will now look ahead to Saturday when they host Notre Dame College in an important regional matchup against Notre Dame College. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Concord will also honor the conference 1990-91 men's basketball team.
