SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Concord University men's basketball team overcame a first half deficit and gradually pulled away from Notre Dame in the second half to tally a 95-87 win Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference play at Murphy Gymnasium.
CU improves to 10-16 on the season and 6-14 in the conference. Notre Dame drops to 16-10 overall and has a 10-10 mark in the MEC.
The Falcons controlled the first half as Concord led for a total of 14 seconds after a layup from junior guard
B.J. Hamlet was quickly answered by Notre Dame's Will Vorhees at the 5:28 mark of the first half. Despite not leading for most of the first half, the Mountain Lions never let NDC expand its lead past five points over the final five minutes of the first half.
Concord trailed 46-44 at the intermission.
The teams traded the lead six times and was tied 12 times over the first 12 minutes of the second half with neither team leading by more three in that stretch.
A three-pointer from junior forward
Babe Murphy at the 8:16 mark of the second half gave the Mountain Lions a lead it would not surrender down the stretch. Two different times the Falcons closed to within one point, at the 5:58 mark and the 4:14 mark, but each time CU answered with a three-point bucket, one each from sophomore guard
Tommy Bolte and senior guard
Cam Shannon.
Concord drilled 7-of-8 free throws in the final 53 seconds of the contest to win by eight points.
Bolte finished the contest with one of the most complete games in the MEC this season as he scored 26 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out six assists. The Chillicothe, Ohio native shot 7-for-12 from the field, buried all five three-pointer and was 7-for-8 at the foul line.
Senior forward
Stephen Thompson finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Shannon added 15 points and five rebounds while senior guard
Michael Sanchez (12) and Murphy (10) each scored in double digits.
Despite not scoring in double figures for the first time this season, senior guard
Aaron Miller grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists while recording seven points. Additionally,
Miller went over 500 points for the third consecutive season, just the sixth player to accomplish the feat in program history.
Although NDC shot 56.3 percent (36-for-64) to Concord's 46.2 percent (36-for-78), the Mountain Lions capitalized on points off turnovers, outscoring Notre Dame 19-2. CU also had more second-chance points 14-8.
The rebounds finished even 36-36, but the Mountain Lions had 14 offensive rebounds to NDC's six.
Concord committed just three turnovers in the entire game, the first time with five or fewer turnovers since January 30, 2014 against West Virginia Wesleyan.
CU plays hosts to Charleston 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Prior to the game, the Mountain Lions will honor their four seniors: Miller, Sanchez, Shannon and Thompson.
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