Concord Starts Four-Game Road Trip at Shepherd, Fairmont State

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

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team looks to snap a brief three-game losing streak when it takes to the road for games against Shepherd 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Fairmont State 4:00 p.m. Saturday.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Shepherd's radio play-by-play voice Andrew Caridi will have the broadcast of Thursday's game on 95.9 FM WICL in the eastern panhandle. Saturday's game will be carried by 106.5 Sky FM in north central West Virginia with Travis Jones on the call.
Stats: Both the Shepherd University and Fairmont State Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics for the road games.
Video: Live streaming video will be provided for the contests featuring the Mountain Lions.

RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are 14-8 overall and tied for fifth in the MEC standings with a record of 9-7.

Shepherd is 11-11 overall and 7-9 in the league.

Fairmont State starts the week at 16-6 and 13-3 against league foes.

FAST OUT OF THE GATE
CU let a 49-37 halftime lead over Wheeling Jesuit slip away as it lost 98-89 Thursday night before dropping a 110-106 decision to fifth-ranked West Liberty on Saturday even though Concord topped the 50-point mark in each half versus the Hilltoppers. Saturday marked the sixth and seventh times this season Concord has scored at least 50 points in a half and the fourth time it had accomplished the feat in a first half. Previously, Concord was 5-0 when scoring at least 50 points in a half before Saturday's setback. Overall, the Mountain Lions are outscoring teams 889-757 in the first halves of games in 2018-19 while opponents hold a 908-857 edge in the second half.

TOMMY 2K
Senior guard Tommy Bolte continued his trek towards 2,000 career points as he dropped in 22 points versus WJU before adding 39 more against West Liberty.  The Chillicothe, Ohio native now has 1,884 career points and would become the sixth player in program with 2,000 points. The last player to score 2,000 points in a career at CU was Brian Atkins (2000-04). Among active Division II players, Bolte ranks 10^th in scoring. Bolte is also approaching 400 career rebounds (388) and 400 career assists (391). Bolte could become the only player in school history with 2,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists.

INSTANT OFFENSE
Over the last six games, junior guard Jair Rodgers has come out firing to start the game. The South Bend, Indiana native is averaging 14.5 points per first half while knocking in 16 three-pointers over the first halves of those six games. Rodgers' most impressive performance may have been hitting four three-pointers in the first half against Wheeling Jesuit while scoring 18 points. This season, Rodgers is scoring 21.4 points per game and is leading Division II in three-pointers made per game (4.18).

HOT SHOT
After shooting just 42.6 percent versus Wheeling Jesuit, the Mountain Lions bounced back to shoot 60.3 percent against West Liberty—their second-highest mark of the season. CU is 9-2 when shooting at least 45 percent this season, but both losses have come against WLU. In Saturday's game, Bolte (68.1 percent / 15-for-22), junior forward Trey Brisco (57.1 percent / 4-for-7), sophomore guard/forward Malik Johnson (55.6 percent / 5-for-9), freshman guard Brandon Kennedy (60 percent / 3-for-5) and senior forward Jafar Musa (100 percent / 4-for-4) all shot at least 55 percent in the game. Musa had a career-best nine points.

BOUNCE BACK 
The Mountain Lions dropped consecutive home games to Shepherd, 90-74, and Fairmont State, 93-83, during the second week of January. CU shot just 39.7 percent in the loss to the Rams, but Bolte did pour in 42 points on 15-for-28 shooting. It would be the start of 35 or more points in a five-of-six game stretch for the Chillicothe, Ohio native. Concord lost a heartbreaker to FSU two days later as the Fighting Falcons hit a halfcourt shot to send the game to overtime where they would defeat CU. Bolte added 36 points against Fairmont State while Rodgers had 19 points.

CHARITY STRIPE SUCCESS
Going back to the start of the calendar year, Concord has shot 80 percent or better from the foul line in seven of 11 games. Over that time, Bolte is shooting 95.4 percent (84-for-88) while Rodgers isn't far off the pace at 86.6 percent (52-for-60). Entering the week, Bolte has made 29 straight free throws and 59 of his last 60. Bolte ranks 12^th in Division II in free-throw percentage (90.4) while Rodgers is 14^th (90.1). Brisco has also had a strong year at the foul line, going 48-for-57 (84.2 percent). Last season, the Stephens City, Virginia native shot 74.1 percent at the charity stripe. As a team, the Mountain Lions are fourth nationally in free-throw shooting (81.2).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8- Number of wins for CU away from the Carter Center this season.

10- Points by Johnson versus Shepherd, the only other double-figure scorer besides Bolte's 42 points.

13- Lead changes between Concord and Fairmont State earlier this season.

SHEPHERD AT A GLANCE
The Rams had lost five straight games before picking up a 68-58 road win at Urbana. Thomas Lang paces the Rams in scoring at 17.7 points per game, but three other players are averaging double figures—Derek McKnight (15.6), Winston Burgess (15.2) and Jon Preston (10.5). Shepherd is just one of two teams in the MEC—the other is Notre Dame—holding opponents under 45 percent shooting this season. SU is 7-5 at home in 2018-19.

FAIRMONT STATE AT A GLANCE
FSU is coming off a five-point road loss at Notre Dame which puts the Fighting Falcons just one game ahead of NDC for second in the conference. Jason Jolly is the leading scorer for Fairmont State at 18.4, but Vonte Montgomery isn't far behind at 18.3 points per game. Montgomery is also the leading rebounder for FSU at 7.9 per game. Andrew Emrick, who hit the halfcourt shot in Athens, is scoring 11.3 points per game despite starting just one game this season. Cole VonHandorf  (10.5 points per game) and Kenzie Melko-Marshall (10.3) round out the double-figure scorers for Fairmont State.