FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team could not complete a second-half comeback on the road Thursday night as it lost 103-76 to Fairmont State in Mountain East Conference action at Joe Retton Arena.
Trailing by double digits for most of the second half, seven straight points from Concord (5-14, 1-12 MEC) midway through the half cut the CU deficit to 68-63 going to the under 10-minute media timeout. However, FSU (19-0, 13-0 MEC) scored 10 straight points to stretch its lead back to 15, 78-63, with 7:03 remaining in the game.
The Fighting Falcons would go on to win by 27 points.
To start the game, the Mountain Lions fell behind 9-2 against the second-ranked team in the nation. Much like the matchup at the Carter Center earlier in the month, CU was not deterred by the fast start of Fairmont State. Down seven just two minutes into the game, Concord went on a 19-5 run to grab a 21-14 lead at the 13:15 mark of the first half after a layup by junior guard
B.J. Hamlet.
Fairmont State outscored the Mountain Lions by 15 points over the final 15 minutes of the first half to take a 46-38 lead into halftime.
Senior guard
Aaron Miller erupted for 32 points on 14-for-22 shooting. It was Miller's first 30-point performance since November 28, 2015 versus Johnson C. Smith, and the fourth 30-point game of Miller's career. The Stephens City, Virginia native also set a career-high with 14 made field goals.
Fellow senior guard
Michael Sanchez also finished in double figures with 11 points.
Freshman forward
Patrick Eugene pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds, marking the fourth time this season Eugene has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in a game.
Concord travels to Shepherd 4:00 p.m. Saturday. Â
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