ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team went on a 29-10 run over an eight-minute span of the first half as it took command of its game against Urbana that resulted in a 99-79 win Monday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center.
Tied for the sixth and final time at 22-22 with 9:29 left in the first half, the Mountain Lions (3-2, 1-1 MEC) opened up a double-digit lead over the next two minutes, 32-22. Junior guard
Jair Rodgers scored the first seven points of the spurt before sophomore guard/forward
Malik Johnson drained a three-pointer. The run continued as five CU players combined to score the next 19 led by junior forward
Trey Brisco's seven points. Urbana (0-3, 0-2 MEC) scored the final five points of the second half as Concord took a 51-37 lead into halftime.
A layup by senior guard
Tommy Bolte at the 16:05 mark of the second half grew the CU lead to 20 points, 65-45. The Blue Knights were able to work the deficit down to 16 points, 76-60, with 9:05 remaining in the contest, but a quick 10-2 run concluding with a three-pointer from sophomore forward David Mulumba worked the lead up to 24 points.
The Mountain Lions led by as much as 26 points before the final margin of victory at 20.
CU shot a season-best 67.3 percent (35-for-52) from the floor and connected on 11-of-19 three-pointers (57.9 percent). Monday marked the first time Concord has shot above 60 percent in a game since the second game of last season at Winston-Salem State. The 67.3 shooting percentage is also tied for the second highest in a Division II game this season.
The Mountain Lions' three-point percentage was the best since CU shot 8-for-13 (61.5 percentage) versus Charleston in the 2011-2012 season.
Bolte scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half to lead all scorers in the game. Overall, the Maroon and Gray put five players in double figures. Rodgers finished with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting.
Brisco poured in 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. Junior forward
Simun Kovac went for 11 points and a game-best nine rebounds. Johnson came off the bench to score 12 points.
Concord held a 43-25 advantage in rebounds, and had 19 assists including five each from Bolte and Johnson.
Concord hosts Charleston 7:30 p.m. November 28.
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