Reed's Heroics Lifts Concord to Win Over West Liberty, Advances to First Conference Title Game Since 1995

Box Score CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Over his career, senior guard Rob Reed has had a knack for making big shots. On Friday night at the Mountain East Conference semifinals, Reed hit the biggest shot of his collegiate career, an off-balance 20-foot shot, off-glass shot with 0.4 seconds left in double overtime to lift Concord to a 92-90 win over nationally-ranked number one West Liberty and top-seed West Liberty at the Charleston Civic Center.

At the end of regulation, Reed missed a shot that could have broken a 73-73 tie and given Concord a win. Likewise in overtime, a missed bucket by junior guard Michael Sanchez and two misses by the Hilltoppers send the game into another extra session.

Both overtime sessions were played within a possession and neither team led by more than two points. A layup by senior forward Terry Hopewell with 35 seconds left in double overtime gave CU a 90-88 cushion. However, eight seconds later, WLU's Seger Bonifant drove to the basket and made a layup to cut the tie the game back up.

After a timeout by the Mountain Lions, Sanchez dished the ball to Reed on the wing. As Reed began to drive down the baseline, he lost his balance, but maintained his dribble. With time of the essence, Reed stepped through a double team and hoisted an off-balance shot that banked in with 0.4 seconds left, send the Concord cheering section and bench into hysteria.

The Hilltoppers had one last shot on a full-court heave but the shot by Bonifant came up short.

Reed finished with 34 points in the game to record the second-highest individual point output by a player in the Mountain East Conference Tournament. Reed fueled a 23-10 run midway through the first half to give CU a 34-21 lead at the 5:05 mark of the first half, and a 40-33 lead at halftime. Of the 23 points during the aforementioned run, Reed scored 11.

But, WLU opened the second half on a 10-2 run and the game a see-saw affair from there.

Reed added five rebounds and three assists to go with 34 points.

Hopewell scored 16 points and tied his career-high with 19 rebounds. The Columbus, Ohio native scored 10 of his 16 in the overtime session.

Junior guard Aaron Miller (14 points) and Sanchez (12 points) also finished in double figures for the Mountain Lions.

Concord will play for its first conference tournament title since 1998 when it takes on Notre Dame at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.