Concord Set for Home Games Against Shepherd, Fairmont State

Concord Stats - Shepherd Stats - Fairmont State Stats - Live Audio - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - After not playing since December 15, the Concord University men's basketball team starts 2019 with a pair of home games against Shepherd 7:30 p.m. Thursday before hosting Fairmont State 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon at the Carter Center.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have live play-by-play coverage of both games this weekend. The games came be heard on 94.5 "Willie" FM and online at mywillie.com. The pregame show starts 15 minutes before each broadcast.
Stats: Live in-game statistics are provided by the Concord University Sports Information Department for each home game.
Video: Live streaming video is available for both games at the Carter Center.

RECORDS
Winners of seven straight games, the Mountain Lions are 9-2 overall and 5-1 against Mountain East Conference teams. Shepherd sports a record of 7-5 on the season and is 3-3 in the conference. Fairmont State has rattled off nine wins in its last 10 games to move to 9-3 overall and 6-0 in the MEC.

MOVING UP THE LADDER
Heading into this week's games, Concord owns the longest winning streak in the MEC at seven with the next best streak being two straight wins by West Liberty. The seven-game streak is the most consecutive wins for the Mountain Lions since they won seven games to start the 2015-16 campaign. With its 9-2 mark, CU is gaining recognition both regionally and nationally. This week, the Mountain Lions are slated fourth in the D2SIDA Atlantic Regional Rankings and have earned six votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Poll this week

TORCHING THE NETS
Before Christmas, the Mountain Lions defeated West Virginia Wesleyan 70-58 on the strength of 13 three-pointers with eight coming from junior guard Jair Rodgers. For the game, Rodgers went 8-for-14 from three-point range and scored 28 points. It matched the most three-pointers for the South Bend, Indiana native in his young CU career as he also converted eight three-pointers in a win over Pitt-Johnstown on November 10. With his performance, Rodgers moved up to fourth in the MEC in scoring (22.5) and is first nationally in made three-pointers per game (4.73). Freshman guard Brandon Kennedy came off the bench to hit on two three-pointers and score a career-high six points as he assisted Rodgers in the three-pointer output. Over the last four games, CU has hit at least 13 three-pointers in each game to raise its per game average to 11.7, third in the MEC.

LEADING THE WAY
Even though senior guard Tommy Bolte was held to his lowest output of the season in scoring versus WVWC—12 points—the Chillicothe, Ohio native still had six rebounds and six assists to go along with a season-high four steals. This season, Bolte is averaging 27.0 points per game, third in Division II, to go along with 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per contest. Bolte is one of two players in the MEC and in the Atlantic Region along with UVa.-Wise's Michal Seals to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists this season. In addition to being first in Division II in made three-pointers per game, Rodgers is fourth nationally in free-throw percentage at 95 percent as he has made 38-of-40 foul shots this season.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LATE
Three of Bolte's best performance of the entire 2017-18 season came late in the season against Fairmont State and Shepherd. In back-to-back home games in mid-February last season versus FSU and the Rams, Bolte averaged 40.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and six assists per game while combining to shoot 52.8 percent (26-for-53) from the field in the two games. In the MEC Tournament versus Fairmont State, Bolte set an MEC single-game scoring record with 51 points on 20-for-35 shooting and added eight rebounds and six assists as CU picked up an 89-84 win over the Fighting Falcons in the MEC Quarterfinals—its first win over FSU since the 2014-15 season.

50^TH MEETING
Thursday night will mark the 50^th all-time meeting between Concord and Shepherd with the Rams holding a narrow 25-24 series record against CU. In recent past, the two teams have gone back and forth with Shepherd holding a 7-4 advantage over the Mountain Lions since the start of the 2013-14 season. However, both sides have found it hard to win away from home. Concord defeated the Rams inside the Butcher Center during the 2014-15 season, and the only time SU has won at Concord in the last four years was during the 2016-17 season. Bolte averaged 40 points in two games versus the Rams last season including going for 38 on the road and 42 points back at home in a 76-70 CU win. Junior forward Trey Brisco added 11 points in the victory.

THREE-POINT LIMITATION
Even though the Mountain Lions were knocking down three-pointers at a rapid rate prior to Christmas, the three-point makes could be at a premium for CU, Shepherd and Fairmont State this weekend. Concord is connecting on 11.7 three-pointers per game while FSU is just behind at 11.3 per game. The Rams average 8.5 makes from three-point distance per game. However, all three teams rank in the top four of the MEC in three-point percentage defense this season. The Maroon and Gray is allowing opponents to make just over one-third (33.8 percent) of attempted three-pointers, second in the MEC. Fairmont State follows closely behind, giving up just 34.4 percent of three-point attempts while Shepherd is surrendering 34.9 percent from behind the arc. Only Charleston (52.6 percent) and Glenville State (41.7 percent) have shot above 40 percent from three-point range against CU this season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
9- Average margin of victory for Concord during its seven-game winning streak.

78.5- CU's free-throw percentage this season which ranks second in the MEC and 14^th in Division II.

95- Rodgers' free-throw percentage (38-for-40) which is fourth best in the country.

SHEPHERD AT A GLANCE
SU picked up an impressive win over nationally-ranked Shippensburg on January 2 before stumbling against Lincoln (Pa.) January 5 by a score of 80-59. The Rams are a balanced scoring team as Derek McKnight averages 17.6 points per game while Thomas Lang follows with 17.5 points per contest. Winston Burgess not only leads the MEC in field goal percentage (66.1), but he's also scoring 16.8 points per game. Jon Preston has predominately come off the bench this season to provide 10 points per game.

FAIRMONT STATE AT A GLANCE
The Fighting Falcons are led by four-year starting point guard Jason Jolly who is averaging 18.8 points per game and has knocked down the second-most three-pointers in the MEC with 47, trailing only CU's Rodgers' 52. Vonte Montgomery is scoring 15.6 points per game and is FSU's leading rebound with 6.2 per game. Fairmont State has only played two true road games this season, wins over Wheeling Jesuit and West Virginia Wesleyan in early December. The Fighting Falcons are 22^nd in the D2SIDA National Poll, and like Concord received six votes in NABC Division II Poll.