INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team fought off a West Virginia State comeback attempt as it won on the road, 98-91, Saturday afternoon at the Walker Convocation Center in Mountain East Conference action.
With a 23-20 lead halfway through the first half, the Mountain Lions (5-2, 3-1 MEC) went on a 14-3 run to open up a 37-22 advantage with 8:06 remaining in the first half. Junior guard
Jair Rodgers led the run by knocking down two three-pointers while junior forward
Simun Kovac added four points.
Concord kept its advantage at or above 10 points for the remainder of the first half as it shot 57.6 percent during the first 20 minutes. The Mountain Lions held a 49-37 lead at the break.
With CU lead 62-50 five into the second half, West Virginia State (2-5, 1-3 MEC) went on an 11-4 run to trim the Concord lead to 66-61 with 11:19 left in the contest. However, Concord responded with a long run as it opened up an 86-69 lead—the 17-point edge was the biggest of the game—with 6:30 left to play.
Senior guard
Tommy Bolte led the run as he dropped in 12 of his season-high 35 points over the five-minute stretch.
The Yellow Jackets made a late run to get within seven points with 50 seconds left, but Concord made 3-for-4 foul shots in the closing seconds to finish off West Virginia State for the seven-point win.
Despite going just 9-for-25 from the floor, Bolte hit on 15-of-18 free throws while adding six assists.
Junior guard
Jair Rodgers added 22 points including four made three-pointers. Junior forward
Trey Brisco scored seven of his 11 in the first half to finish in double figures.
Sophomore forward
David Bea Mulumba posted his first career double-double as he scored 10 points and added a personal-best 12 rebounds.
Senior forward
Jafar Musa came off the bench and just missed a double-double of eight points and eight rebounds.
The Mountain Lions finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor (31-for-62) while also hitting on 90 percent of their free throws (27-of-30).
CU continues its road trip at Glenville State 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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