Concord Stats -
Bluefield State Stats -
Live Audio -
Live Stats -
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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - Coming off an 83-82 win over UVa.-Wise Saturday afternoon, the Concord University men's basketball team plays its final non-conference game of the game of the season when it welcomes Mercer County rival Bluefield State to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Monday.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will supply radio play-by-play coverage of Monday's game on 94.5 "Willie" FM and online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live statistics.
Video: Live streaming video will also be available for Monday's rivalry game.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions improved to 12-5 on the season after downing the Cavaliers.
BSC is coming off a hard-fought loss to Salem, 67-63, that dropped the Blues' record to 6-13.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
After not having a game decided by one possession in their first 14 games of the season, Concord has played three consecutive games that have been decided by three points or less including two going into double overtime. CU lost 109-108 to West Liberty on January 19 in double overtime before nipping Charleston 99-96 in double overtime for a key Mountain East Conference road victory. In the latest contest to not be decided until the final buzzer, Concord turned away UVa.-Wise in the closing seconds Saturday. Since becoming a Division II school prior to the 1994-95 academic year, the Mountain Lions have never played three straight games that have been decided by three points or less.
IT'S FREE!
Part of the reason Concord has found itself in close games as of late is the Mountain Lions' success at the foul line. Senior guard
Tommy Bolte has made 27 consecutive free throws and has gone 51-for-54 (94.4 percent) in the six games the Mountain Lions have played since the calendar turned to 2019. Bolte is now second in the MEC in foul shooting at 89.0 percent. Junior guard
Jair Rodgers isn't far off the pace at 88.9 percent for the season as he ranks third in the MEC in free-throw percentage. As a team, CU is top 10 nationally and the only team in the league shooting at least 80 percent (80.3) from the charity stripe this season. However, some of Concord's best foul shooting has come in pressure-packed situations this season. In the final three minutes of regulation and overtimes in 2018-19, the Maroon and Gray is shooting 90.9 percent (70-for-77) at the charity stripe including a 43-for-44 (97.7 percent) effort from Bolte.
EVERYONE REBOUNDS
The Mountain Lions held a 44-28 advantage in rebounds in their win over UVa.-Wise. The +16 margin on the glass tied the second-best rebounding margin of the season, trailing only a +18 advantage on the glass in a home win over Urbana at the end of November. Sophomore forward
David Bea Mulumba led CU in rebounding against UVa.-Wise with nine boards. In the last four games, Concord has had four different players lead or tie for the rebounding lead: Bolte, junior forward
Simun Kovac, Mulumba and senior forward
Jafar Musa. Earlier this season in a 84-68 win at Bluefield State, Concord had a 39-33 edge on the boards. Junior forward
Trey Brisco tied his career high with 13 rebounds while Rodgers grabbed a personal-best seven rebounds.
GETTING UP FOR A RIVAL
Head coach
Todd May is 4-1 against Bluefield State in his three seasons at Concord. In the four matchups CU has won, May's defense has held BSC to 40 percent or less shooting in all four wins, including a 30.2 percent mark in a 71-59 win last season on the road. In Bluefield State's only win over CU in that same time, the Blues shot 48.2 percent in last year's victory at the Carter Center. In his last three games versus BSC, Bolte has averaged 29 points per game while Brisco has grabbed an average of 10.6 boards per contest in the last three games. Concord split with Bluefield State last season as GSC won at Concord, 87-83.
MOVIN' ON UP
By scoring 98 points over his last two games, Bolte has now tallied 1,752 points in his career and over the weekend passed Will Johnson and
Aaron Miller, who were tied on the all-time scoring list with 1,746 points, for ninth at Concord. Bolte needs six points to move into eighth as Randy Jennings currently holds the spot with 1,757 points. By earning CU's 12th win of the 2018-19 season, May moved into a tie for eighth on the all-time wins list at Concord with his 40th career win. May, who coached his 75th game at Concord on Saturday, is now deadlocked with James Callaghan on the wins list at CU.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7- Offensive rebounds by Brisco in the first game with BSC this season.
54- Shooting percentage for Bolte in the last two games.
60- Concord is going for its 60th all-time win over BSC. CU holds a 59-37 series lead.
BLUEFIELD STATE AT A GLANCE
The Blues have lost three straight games after the close defeat at Salem on Saturday. BSC is 2-9 in true road games. Korey Williams who is the leading scorer for the Blues is averaging nearly 14 points per game. Teyon Henry is also scoring in double figures with 11.2 points per game. When Bluefield State won at the Carter Center last season, Williams tallied 23 points.
