Box Score WHEELING, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team had its season end in the Mountain East Conference Tournament Semifinal Round as it lost to West Liberty 88-84 at WesBanco Arena.
Concord's (20-10) only lead in the first half was 6-4 after junior guard
Jair Rodgers rained in one of his six three-pointers early in the game. But, CU never let the Hilltoppers (26-3) get far away as they was only able to lead by as much as seven points despite the Mountain Lions going through a time of not scoring for nearly five minutes.
Another three-pointer from Rodgers late in the first half trimmed CU's deficit to 39-35 at the break.
The first six minutes of the second half featured four ties. Tied at 52-52, WLU was able to open up a 58-52 edge with a quick 6-0 run. Concord fought back, and finally at the 1:29 mark of the second half CU tied the game at 80-80 on a reverse layup by senior guard
Tommy Bolte.
The basket also capped a string of seven straight points for the Chillicothe, Ohio native.
Four straight free throws by West Liberty put the Hilltoppers up 84-80 with 41 seconds remaining. On the ensuing CU possession, Rodgers converted a layup. After a 1-of-2 effort from
WLU's Eric Meininger at the foul line, Concord found itself down 85-82 with 22 seconds left. But, Bolte's three-pointer with 10 seconds left would not fall as the Mountain Lions by four points.
Bolte scored 32 points in the game with 28 coming after halftime. Behind his six three-pointers, Rodgers finished with 28 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
Sophomore guard/forward
Malik Johnson went for 10 points.
Bolte finishes his career with 2,083 points—sixth most in Concord history. Bolte also ranks ninth in program history in assists with 424. This season, Bolte scored 28.5 points per game—second in Division II and had 854 total points.
Saturday night was also the final game in the career of senior forward
Jafar Musa. The two-year junior college transfer had six points and three rebounds in his final time in the Maroon and Gray.
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