Concord Downed at Fairmont State

FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team lost 91-77 against Fairmont State at Joe Retton Arena in Mountain East Conference action Saturday afternoon.

CU (8-5, 5-3 MEC) played tough in the first half with the team that finished as the national runner-up a season ago, however, Fairmont State (10-4, 6-2 MEC) pulled away in the second half.

The Fighting Falcons jumped out to an 18-8 advantage seven minutes into the game, but it didn't deter Concord from a run of its own. After the teams traded baskets over the next five minutes, CU still trailed 26-19. However, the Mountain Lions went on a quick 8-2 spurt to close the gap to 28-27 with 6:28 left in the first half. Freshman guard Malik Johnson knocked in one of his three first-half three-pointers. Freshman forward Antonio Patterson added a triple of his own and junior guard Tommy Bolte connected on a jumper in the run.

The contest stayed within five points over the next three-and-half minutes as freshman guard Darian Peterson drilled a three-pointer to get Concord back to within 35-34 with 2:49 remaining in the half. But,  FSU outscored the Mountain Lions 7-1 in the closing minutes to grab a 42-35 edge at halftime.

Senior guard B.J. Hamlet got Concord back to within four as hit connected on his own three-pointer on the opening possession of the second half. After Bolte made consecutive free throws at the 18:20 mark of the second half to make it a six-point game, the Fighting Falcons went on an 11-3 run to gain their largest lead of the game—17 points, 62-45, with 13:50 remaining.

CU was unable to work the deficit back down under 10 for the remainder of the contest.

Bolte led the Mountain Lions in scoring as he posted 20 points to go along with six rebounds and seven assists while committing just one turnover. Patterson scored a career-high 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Additionally, Patterson made all four three-pointers he attempted.

Johnson poured in 12 points and notched a career-best eight rebounds. Peterson also finished in double figures with 10 points.

The Mountain Lions return home to take on Wheeling  Jesuit 7:30 p.m. Thursday.