CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Junior guard
Tommy Bolte poured in 51 points, and the Concord University men's basketball team outlasted Fairmont State, 89-84, in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center.
The 51 points by Bolte set a MEC single-game record, and ties the most points scored in a NCAA Division II game during the 2017-18 season. Just last week, Bolte tied the MEC single-game record with 49 points at West Virginia State.
In the opening half of play, neither led by more than seven points with Fairmont State (21-8) gaining a 28-21 advantage that capped a 13-2 run for the Fighting Falcons. However, CU (17-12) had a response by scoring the next 11 points to take its biggest lead of the first half, 32-28, with 5:42 remaining in the half.
Bolte scored seven points during the run. Sophomore forward
Trey Brisco made two foul shots, and freshman forward
Antonio Patterson put an exclamation point on the run with a breakout dunk.
Fairmont State fought back to tie the game at 34-34, one of seven ties in the first half. Each team scored seven points over the final 4:59 of the first half to keep the game tied at halftime.
The Mountain Lions started the second half fast as Bolte scored four points and senior guard
B.J. Hamlet added two to open up a 47-41 edge with 17:30 remaining in the game. FSU closed the gap fast and took a 52-49 lead with 14:46 left.
Over the next 11 minutes, the game featured seven ties and four lead changes. With the score deadlocked at 73-73, the 15
th and final overall tie, Patterson stepped up to the foul line and made two foul shot at the 3:01 mark and freshman forward
Jyles Webster added a foul line jumper 28 seconds later to push CU up 77-73.
In the final 1:49 of the game, the Mountain Lions made 8-of-10 foul shots including a 4-for-4 effort from Hamlet to secure the win.
Bolte tied the single-game MEC record with 20 made field goals in 35 attempts. The Chillicothe, Ohio native also had eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
Brisco had a game-best 10 rebounds as he added six points. Hamlet scored 10 points.
Patterson did a little bit of everything with nine points, five rebounds and three steals. Webster went for eight points.
CU shot 50 percent (33-for-66) from the floor in the win, and was 86.4 percent (19-for-22) at the free-throw line.
Concord will play Wheeling Jesuit 8:15 p.m. Saturday night in the MEC Semifinals.
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