WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team played a tight contest against West Liberty, but its upset bid against the nationally-ranked Hilltoppers came up short, 105-92, Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference action at the ASRC.
CU (11-11, 7-9 MEC) used a 16-5 run over 6:05 of the first half to gain control of the opening 20 minutes. Down 12-10 at the first media timeout of the contest, senior guard
B.J. Hamlet jump started the run with two three-pointers. Junior guard
Tommy Bolte and sophomore forward
Trey Brisco each scored four points during the run as Concord led 26-19 with 8:49 left in the first half.
The Mountain Lions maintained their lead until WLU (20-1, 15-1 MEC) took a 33-31 lead with 4:34 remaining in the first half. The rest of the half featured three changes with freshman forward
Trey Shuff giving Concord a 47-46 lead at halftime with a late bucket.
Neither team was able to pull away in the first five minutes of the second half, but West Liberty was able to gain some separation with a 10-2 run, and took a 68-60 lead with 12:45 left in the contest.
However, CU rattled off its own spurt with 13 of the next 17 points that concluded with two foul shots by junior forward
Jafar Musa to give Concord a 73-72 edge with 9:59 remaining. Despite battling the Hillltoppers for the final 10 mintues, it was the final lead of the game for the Mountain Lions.
Hamlet's two foul shots got CU to within 86-85 with 5:38 remaining, but WLU responded with back-to-back three-pointers to open its lead back up to seven points.
Hamlet finished with a game-high 27 points on 9-for-18 shooting as he drilled seven three-pointers in the game, one off his career best.
Brisco just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds—his highest point total since November 20 at Urbana. Bolte added 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the setback for CU.
Musa was active both offensively and defensively for Concord with six points, four rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 22 minutes of action.
Concord returns home to host Shepherd 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Carter Center.
Â
