Concord Stats -
Charleston Stats -
West Virginia State Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Live Audio
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team looks to snap a brief two-game losing streak when Mountain East Conference play begins 4:00 p.m. Saturday against MEC rival Charleston before heading to West Virginia State 7:30 pm. Tuesday in another conference clash. Before the two MEC games, the Mountain Lions travel to Kent State for a 5:00 p.m. Thursday exhibition against the Division I Golden Flashes.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will have live radio play-by-play coverage of Saturday's game on 94.5 "Willie" FM.
Stats: Both the Concord University and West Virginia State Sports Information Departments will provide live in-game statistics
Video: Live streaming video will be provided for both teams.
Kent State Coverage: Thursday's exhibition game will be streamed on ESPN3 while stats and an audio broadcast will be also be available.
RECORDS
Concord is 2-3 this season after dropping both games at the Pickle Classic hosted by the University of Mount Olive.
Charleston sports a perfect 4-0 mark and is receiving votes in the Division II Coaches' Poll while being ranked 16
th in the Division II Media Poll.
WVSU starts the weekend with a mark of 3-0.
DIFFERENT GUY, DIFFERENT NIGHT
So far this season, Concord has had four different players lead the way in scoring. After freshman guard
Ethan Heller poured in 29 and 18 points on back-to-back nights to start the season, three different Mountain Lions have shared the scoring load since. Junior guard/forward
Malik Johnson posted his third career 20-point game with 21 in an 81-70 win at Bluefield State. Senior forward
Simun Kovac led CU in scoring for the first time in his career with 16 points against Barton. Senior guard
Trey Brisco tallied 20 points in the defeat at Mount Olive. Last season, the Mountain Lions only had four players be the top scorer on a given night. Brisco and Johnson shared the honor with 21 points each in the MEC Quarterfinal win over Charleston in March.
STAY HOT
The Mountain Lions have made 41.3 percent (50-for-121) of their three-point attempts through five games this season which is third in the MEC. Three Concord players are shooting at least 45 percent from three-point range with Brisco leading the way at 50 percent (9-for-18). Johnson (47.4 percent / 9-for-19) and junior forward
David Bea Mulumba (47.1 percent / 8-for-17) follow close behind. Heller has stroked 15 three-points this season which is tied for the MEC lead with Charleston's Drew Rackley. In head coach
Todd May's previous three seasons, Concord has never shot better than 38 percent from distance. In three games with Charleston last season, the Maroon and Gray shot 51.7 percent from three-point range (29-for-56) including Johnson stroking in 9-of-10 attempted triples.
GET ON THE BOARDS
Entering Saturday's game, Charleston owns the best rebounding margin in the MEC at +8.3 while CU's rebounding margin is ninth (-5.0). The contest features two of three players in the league averaging 10 or more rebounds through the early part of the season. Kovac has pulled down an average of 10.2 rebounds per contest to lead the MEC in rebounding. Charleston's Devon Robinson is tied for second with 10.0 boards per game. Oddly enough, the team that has lost the rebounding battle in the last five games between Concord and UC has gone on to win the game, including the Mountain Lions winning all three games last season.
WORKING EXTRA
Last season, Concord and Charleston needed three overtimes across two games to decide the winner of the regular season tilts. CU did win the MEC Quarterfinal game, 74-62, without any overtime. In a 106-100 win at home in late November of UC, the Mountain Lions shot 59.3 percent (35-for-59) from the field.
Tommy Bolte had a double-double of 31 points and 10 assists. Johnson came off the bench to score 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting including 5-for-5 three-point range. Mulumba added 13 points on 5-for-8 from the field. In January at Charleston, Bolte lit up the scoreboard for 65 points as CU won 99-96 in double overtime. However, Kovac added his first career double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Concord shot 49.3 percent (35-for-71) from the floor.
KEEP IT GOING
Concord has won six of the last seven games against West Virginia State including earning a seven-point road win, 98-91, against the Yellow Jackets. Even though, CU has had its way in the ultimate outcome with WVSU, five of the six Concord wins have come by single digits with the sixth being by 10 points in November 2016 at the Carter Center. Mulumba notched his first career double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds in last season's road win while Kovac had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season finale last season at Concord. Additionally, Mulumba posted double figures in each game with the Yellow Jackets in 2018-19.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Number of shots made by Rackley in the MEC Quarterfinals last season when guarded by Brisco
16- Number of shots attempted by Rackley in the MEC Quarterfinals last season when guarded by Brisco
53- Shooting percentage for CU in second half at Mount Olive—its highest in the second half this season
KENT STATE AT A GLANCE
KSU is 4-0 this season including wins over Towson and Wright State. The Mountain Lions face the Golden Flashes before Kent State travels to Ohio State Monday for an in-state battle. Kent State has four players averaging double figures led by Troy Simons and Anthony Roberts each producing 16.3 points per game. As a team, Kent State is averaging over 84 points per game.
CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
Even with their 4-0 record, the Golden Eagles have had their fair share of close calls to open the season with three contests being decided by eight points or less, including Rackley hitting a buzzer-beating three-pointer against California (Pa.). Rackley is just outside the top 10 in scoring in the MEC with 17.3 points per game. Robinson is adding 15.0 points per game to go with this 10.0 rebounds. A year after having one of the most efficient offenses in Division II, shooting 52.1 percent, Charleston is shooting 48.5 percent this season.
WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
WVSU defeated Elizabeth City State and Livingstone, each by less than five points, to start the season, but has only played one game since, a 94-86 win over Bluefield State Tuesday. Glen Abram scored 61 points across the two games and leads the MEC in scoring with 30.5 points per game. The Yellow Jackets have two of the best rim protectors in the MEC in Jeremiah Moore and Anthony Pittman who combined for 10 blocks in the first two games. Pittman is sixth in the MEC in rebounding (9.0 boards per contest).
