CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Powered by a 15-4 run to begin the second half, the Concord University men's basketball pulled away from Charleston Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament at the Charleston Civic Center to win 75-61.
The Mountain Lions improve to 20-9 overall while UC falls to 16-14.
Concord moves on to the semifinal round of the MEC Tournament at 6:00 p.m. Saturday where it will face top-seed West Liberty.
Charleston scored the first basket of the game, but that would be the only time the Maroon and Gray trailed in the contest.
Although CU controlled the first half, it was never able to distance itself in the first half as the biggest lead was only six points. A layup by senior forward
Jametrius Wade with three seconds left in the first half gave Concord a 33-30 advantage at the break.
Out of the intermission, each team converted a jumper with senior forward
Terry Hopewell scoring for Concord. The mid-range post jumper for Hopewell started a 15-4 outburst for CU.
Senior guard
Rob Reed scored 11 of the next 13 points as he buried three three-pointers on his way to a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the distance on the evening and finishing with 24 points.
Once the Mountain Lions took a 48-34 edge, Charleston went on an 11-2 run to cut the CU lead to 50-45 with 10:31 remaining in the game. However, UC was only able to get the deficit to two possessions the rest of the way as Concord steadily pulled away for a 14-point win.
In addition to Reed's 24 points, Hopewell scored 20 points, going 9-for-12 from the field and adding nine rebounds.
Wade finished in double figures with 10 points.
A big key for Concord's victory was its ability to take care of the ball. The Mountain Lions committed eight turnovers on the night, one off its season-low.
Saturday's game will be the third time CU and West Liberty have played this season. Each team defended its home court with Concord winning 108-93 in Athens while West Liberty won at home, 115-105.
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