Concord Forces Overtime, Defeats UVa.-Wise, 80-77

WISE, Va. – Down double-digits in the second half, the Concord University men's basketball team forced overtime with UVa.-Wise and defeated the Cavaliers, 80-77, for a Mountain East Conference road win Saturday afternoon at the Prior Center.

With UVa.-Wise (6-12, 4-8 MEC) holding onto a 49-39 lead with 14:17 left in the contest, CU (9-8, 6-6 MEC) began to slowly chip away at the deficit.

Concord went on a 10-2 run over the next five minutes to trim the Cavaliers' lead to 51-49. Included in the run were four different players scoring, and junior guard Tommy Bolte concluded the spurt with four straight points.

However, two minutes later UVa.-Wise was back up six points before Bolte sunk free throws to trim the lead back to four points, 57-53, with 7:12 remaining in the contest. In the closing minutes of the game, the Cavaliers never got their lead back above five points.

A pivotal three-pointer by freshman guard Darian Peterson with 1:26 remaining closed the Mountain Lions to within 66-65. After a UVa.-Wise turnover, sophomore forward Trey Brisco came up big on the offensive glass as he tipped back in a miss and gave Concord its first lead since the 2:16 mark of the first half.

But, the Cavaliers came right back with the answer on an and-one play that gave them a 69-67 lead with 13 seconds left in the contest. Bolte forced overtime with two makes at the charity stripe.

CU was able to control the overtime session as Brisco gave Concord the lead 42 seconds in, and the Mountain Lions never trailed. Bolte was 5-for-6 at the free-throw line in overtime to help seal the win for the Maroon and Gray.

Bolte poured in 29 points as he tallied a 12-for-17 effort from the foul line.

Brisco and Peterson each notched their first career double-doubles. Brisco scored 11 points and collected 11 rebounds. Peterson went for 13 points and snatched 13 rebounds on the game.

Senior guard B.J. Hamlet rounded out the CU scorers as he tallied 16 points.

The Mountain Lions held a staggering 58-35 advantage on the glass as they pulled in 21 offensive rebounds.

Concord travels to Glenville State 7:30 p.m. Wednesday seeking a season sweep of the Pioneers.