ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team outlasted Notre Dame, 79-76, Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference play inside the Carter Center.
Trailing throughout the first 10 minutes of the contest, the Mountain Lions (4-5, 2-2 MEC) capped an 8-0 run at the 6:29 mark to grab its largest first half-lead of eight points, 31-23. Junior forward
Liam Evans and freshman guard
Ethan Heller combined for all eight Concord points.
NDC (1-7, 0-4 MEC) was able to trim the CU lead down to one point, 31-30, before senior guard
Trey Brisco canned a three-pointer on the ensuing Concord possession to restore a 34-30 lead with 3:53 left in the first half.
After Notre Dame took a 43-40 lead 1:04 into the second half, the Mountain Lions ripped off a 13-3 run to push their lead to 53-46 with 15:21 remaining in the game. Evans started the run with back-to-back buckets before CU hit three straight three-pointers—one each from Heller, senior guard
Martin Kelly Jr. and junior forward
David Bea Mulumba.
Despite the run, Concord was never able to work its lead up to double-digits in the second half as the Falcons hung around.
With CU still up seven, 75-68 after a foul line jumper by senior guard
Trey Brisco with 1:59 remaining, Notre Dame came racing back to get within 76-74 with 38 seconds left. A layup by junior guard/forward
Malik Johnson on the ensuing Concord possession, and a free throw from Heller with six seconds left sealed the game as NDC was unable to get a final shot away.
Heller finished with 20 points including connecting on five three-pointers. Brisco added 17 points with 11 coming after halftime. Kelly Jr. posted his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Evans just missed a double-double of 12 points and nine rebounds.
Concord shot 50.8 percent (30-for-59) from the field, marking the third time in the last four games CU has shot 50 percent or better from the floor.
The Mountain Lions finished with 16 assists, one off the season best.
Concord welcomes Fairmont State to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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