ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team shot 63.3 percent in the second half, and pulled away from West Virginia Wesleyan to win 81-70 Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference action at the Carter Center.
The Mountain Lions improve to 7-15 overall and 3-13 in the MEC while WVWC drops to 11-11 overall and 8-8 against league foes.
The first half featured three lead changes and two ties, but it was Concord taking a 32-31 lead into halftime after sophomore guard
Tommy Bolte created a turnover in the backcourt and quickly dished the ball to junior forward
Babe Murphy diving to the rim for a lay-in as time expired in the first half.
After the Bobcats tied the game at 37-37, CU ripped off 13 of the next 15 points. Murphy started the run by scoring the first five points, and senior guard
Aaron Miller scored the final five points to cap the run. However, WVWC stormed back to cut Concord's lead to 55-53 with 11:07 remaining.
Miller concluded a 16-5 CU scoring spurt with a three-pointer from Miller at the 5:36 mark to give the Mountain Lions a 71-58 lead. Concord's lead grew to as much as 14 points before the final 11-point margin of victory.
In the second half, the Maroon and Gray shot 19-for-30 from the field and was 60 percent from three-point range (6-for-10) in the second half.
Miller exploded for 20 of his 30 points in the second as the Stephens City, Virginia native shot 12-for-18 from the floor for the game and 3-for-6 from three-point range.
Murphy finished with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting including draining three-pointers. It was the first double-digit scoring game at home for Murphy since January 8 versus Notre Dame.
Senior guard
Michael Sanchez just missed a double-double as he scored 13 points and handed out eight assists, tying a season-high set in the first game of the year against Fayetteville State. Senior forward
Stephen Thompson made it four CU players in double figures with 10 points.
Freshman
Patrick Eugene collected a team-best nine rebounds as Concord outrebounded WVWC 34-25.
In the first half, the Mountain Lions assisted on just five of 15 made shots, however, in the second half Concord helped out on 12 out of 19 made field goals.
CU continues its home stand as it welcomes in two nationally-ranked teams to the Carter Center next weekend starting with West Liberty 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
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