CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team roared back from an eight-point second-half deficit to win its first Mountain East Conference Championship, 70-64, over Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Mountain Lions captured their first conference crown since 1997, and will advance to their second ever NCAA Regional Tournament regional against an opponent and site to be determined later Sunday evening.
Concord moves to 22-9 this season while NDC falls to 22-10.
Concord was led by its frontcourt duo of senior forwards
Terry Hopewell and
Jametrius Wade who each recorded a double-double in the championship game. Hopewell went for 19 points and 13 rebounds and  was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line. Wade, meanwhile, posted his first double-double of the tournament by scoring 13 points and collecting 13 rebounds.
Both teams scored the game with Concord missing six of its first eight shots to allow Notre Dame to jump out to 17-9 lead with 11:25 left in the game. The Falcons would run its lead out to 26-13 at the 8:30 mark of the first half before CU starting climbing back into the contest.
Freshman guard
Tommy Bolte started a 9-0 run by drilling a three-pointer while Hopewell and Wade each had a layup. Wade capped the run with two free throws. Â
However, Notre Dame maintained a 33-29 lead at the intermission.
The Falcons continued to hold an advantage on the Mountain Lions until Concord rattled off a 26-10 that span nearly eight minutes as the Maroon and Gray took control of the game. Included in the 26-10 spurt was a 15-5 run where Concord took control of the game.
During the 15-5 outburst, senior guard
Rob Reed, who finished with 12 points and was named the MEC Tournament's MVP, hit consecutive three-pointers, while Wade added four points and Hopewell an old-school three-point play to give the Mountain Lions a 46-44 lead.
Eventually, CU ran its lead out to 57-49 with 9:04 remaining in the game.
NDC chipped away at the lead, getting the deficit to 61-60. But, Concord answered with five straight points to leave little doubt that the Mountain Lions were going to clinch its first conference crown in basketball in nearly 20 years.
All five Concord starters finished in double figures as junior guard
Michael Sanchez scored 12 points while fellow junior guard
Aaron Miller added 12 points.
After Notre Dame shot nearly 40 percent in the first half, CU limited the Falcons to 30 percent (12-for-40) in the second half. Concord is responsible for Notre Dame's two lowest-shooting halves of the season. The Mountain Lions held NDC to 28 percent shooting in the 85-75 Feb. 20 win at home.
The Maroon and Gray owned a 43-38 advantage on the glass while also outscoring NDC 30-20 in the paint.
Along with Reed, Hopewell was also named to the All-MEC Tournament Team.
Notre Dame was led by Tyree Gaiter who posted 23 points and eight assists.
Concord will start the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament Saturday.
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