By winning three games in three days and capturing the MEC Championship, the Concord University men's basketball team will play in
its first NCAA Tournament since 1997 when it takes on West Liberty 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the McDonough Center in Wheeling, West Virginia.
LIVE COVERAGELive Audio
Live Stats
Live VideoThe Wheeling Jesuit Sports Information Department will provide live streaming video as well as live in-game statistics for the game. Meanwhile, Jason "Moose" Reed and
Steve Cox will have live play-by-play of the game on Willie 97.3 FM and online at mywillie.com. To access the live options, follow the options at the top of the page or click
here.
MOUNTAIN LION NOTESSaturday marks the fourth time Concord has played WLU this season, owning a 2-1 season-series edge on the Hiltoppers. CU will come into the game with a mark of 22-9 while West Liberty finished the season ranked fifth in the nation at 27-3.
Hanging on the NCAA Tournament bubble heading into the conference tournament last week, Concord clinched the first automatic basketball bid from the Mountain East Conference by downing Notre Dame 70-64Bin the title game last week.
After appearing in the national tournament (NAIA, twice and NCAA, once) in the 1990s, CU went from 1997 to this year without making the national postseason.
To put that into perspective, this year's Concord freshmen were just being born in 1997.
On Saturday afternoon, Concord will play its 32nd game of the season.
CU has played 30 games in a season for the first time since 2006-07 when the Mountain Lions were 17-13.
Additionally, the last time the Mountain Lions played this many games in a single season was 1996-97 when they played 33 games, going 20-13.
With so many games, some CU players are closing in on single-season milestones.
Senior guard and MEC Tournament MVP
Rob Reed stands at 673 points this season.
By scoring 27 more points, Reed can become the first Concord player to score 700 or more points in a season since Tyrone Anderson in 2007-08.
Only six players have scored 700 or more points in a season in Concord program history.
Senior forward
Terry Hopewell went over the 300-rebound mark in the MEC Tournament and now has 313 boards for the season.
His 313 rebounds are 10th all-time in a single season at Concord.
Additionally, senior forward
Jametrius Wade is closing in on 250 rebounds for the season.
Wade has grabbed 234 boards this season.
Hopewell and Wade could become the second pair of teammates to collect 250 or more rebounds in a season since Julius Lockett (278) and Ron Ward (310) during the 1989-1990 season.
By defeating West Liberty Saturday in the MEC semifinals, the Mountain Lions became the first team since Pitt-Johnstown in 2007-08 to take down the Hilltoppers twice in one season.
In the two wins this season, Concord has held WLU below 40 percent shooting.
At home, Concord limited West Liberty to 39.1 percent shooting while doing one better in the conference tournament, holding WLU to 34.5 percent shooting.
It was the lowest percentage the Hilltoppers have shot since shooting 33.7 percent in the 2013 Division II Final four against Metro State.
Additionally, Concord is the first team since the turn of the decade to hold West Liberty to under 40 percent from the field twice in the same season.
While West Liberty routinely shoots over 50 percent every game, the Hilltoppers haven't found the same stroke at the McDonough Center over the last five years, going 148-for-344 (43.0 percent) from the field.
In three games versus West Liberty this season, Concord has made 36 three-pointers, 12 per game.
For the season, CU is averaging 9.3 makes from beyond the arc. In the January win, Reed was 6-for-11 from three-point range while junior guard
Michael Sanchez was 3-for-5 and junior guard Miller was 2-for-6.
Meanwhile, junior guard
Cam Shannon and junior forwad
Jametrius Wade were each 1-for-1 from behind the arc.
At West Liberty, Concord tied its season-high with 16 made three-pointers.
Sanchez led the barrage with a 6-for-7 effort.
Last week at the MEC Tournament, Reed was 7-for-11 from three-point range, and started the game 5-for-6.
This year's team can become the second team in school history to make 300 three-pointers with two more conversions from beyond the arc.
Only the 1990-91 team made more three-pointers with 316.
While the Hilltoppers have met their season average quota in three-pointers made versus Concord--they average 12.3 makes per game--WLU has
struggled from beyond the arc in Concord wins.
CU has held West Libery to 34.1 percent (29-for-81) from three-point range in two wins while the Hilltoppers were 61.3 percent (19-for-31) in their lone win against Concord this season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS1- Concord will try to become the first MEC Champion to win its first round NCAA Tournament game after Charleston and Glenville State lost their first national tournament game the last two seasons.
3- Wheeling Jesuit is the last team to beat WLU in a season three times, but hasn't happened since 2003-2004
23- CU will be seeking 23 wins in a season for the first time since 1990-91 when it won 28 games.
SCOUTING WEST LIBERTYThe Hilltoppers are led by reigning national player of the year, Seger Bonifant.
This season, Bonifant is averaging 24.9 points per game while shooting 58.5 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range.
Bonifant is averaging 35 points per game in his last two games versus CU, including 33 points in last week's in MEC Tournament.
Zac Grossenbacher pulled down 22 rebounds in last week's contest.
Meanwhile, Mike Lamberti had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds at the MEC Tournament versus the Mountain Lions.
ME Freshman of the Year Dave Dennis also recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
After recording 34 points in January at CU, Devin Hoehn didn't play in the game at West Liberty in February.
Concord held Hoehn in check at the MEC Tournament as he only score 16 points on 6-for-20 shooting.
