Concord Stats -
Wheeling Stats -
West Liberty Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Live Audio -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team takes on Wheeling at home 7:30 p.m. Wednesday before traveling to West Liberty 4:00 p.m. Saturday in a pair of Mountain East Conference games.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox wil have live radio play-by-play coverage on 94.5 "Willie" FM and streaming online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: Live in-game statistics for each contest will be available courtesy of Concord and West Liberty's Sports Information Department.
Video: Live streaming video will also be provided. Reed and Cox will call the Wheeling game while Todd Ullom and Shawn Rine have the action on Topper Station at West Liberty.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are 7-15 overall and tied for the last playoff spot, 10
th, at 4-12 in the MEC standings.
Wheeling sports a record of 12-8 this season and is 9-7 against league foes.
The Hilltoppers are 25th nationally at 18-4 overall and 13-3 against MEC teams.
HAVE A DAY
Junior forward
David Bea Mulumba enjoyed a career day at Fairmont State in the 79-71 loss for the Mountain Lions. The Antwerp, Belgium native shot 10-for-15 from the floor to pour in a career-best 25 points while adding 10 rebounds for his third career double-double. Additionally, Mulumba tallied his first 20-point game since scoring 20 points last January 30 against Glenville State in a 93-90 win. In the previous 21 games this season, Mulumba had only scored 99 points, and had yet to reach double figures in any game before Saturday's outburst. Furthermore, Mulumba becomes the fifth different Mountain Lion to score 20 or more points in a single game this season. He is also the sixth different player to lead CU in scoring this season.
GETTIN' ALL THE REBOUNDS
With the help of Mulumba, Concord owned a 48-30 advantage in rebounding as three different CU players recorded double-doubles in the game. Junior forward
Liam Evans notched 15 points and a game-best 12 rebounds while senior guard
Martin Kelly Jr. added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Evans tallied his second career double-double while Kelly Jr. had his second straight double-double. It was the first time Concord had three or more players with double-digit rebounds since senior guard
Trey Brisco,
Darian Peterson and
Jyles Webster accomplished the feat at UVa.-Wise January 20, 2018. That particular UVa.-Wise contest was also the last time Concord had multiple players with double-doubles in the same game. The 48 rebounds at Fairmont State represents a season high for the Mountain Lions—the previous high was 47 at West Virginia State in late November.
NO SECOND SHOTS
Even though Concord lost by eight at Fairmont State, the Maroon and Gray did not give up a single second-chance point as they held the Fighting Falcons to four offensive rebounds. The Mountain Lions outscored FSU, 13-0, in second-chance points. The four offensive rebounds were a single-game low surrendered by CU while the 13 offensive boards it had were tied for second most in 2019-20. Evans and Mulumba combined for nine offensive rebounds. On Saturday, Concord faces the best offensive rebounding team in the MEC as West Liberty pulls down 15.0 rebounds on the offensive glass per game. Meanwhile, CU and Wheeling are similar, averaging 9.4 and 9.7 offensive rebounds per game, respectively.
POST PRESENCE
When CU fell on the road earlier this season to Wheeling, 74-71—one of the 10 games decided by five points or fewer that Concord has been involved in this season—Evans had his best game in a Concord uniform as he scored a career-best 19 points and had his first double-double by adding 10 rebounds. Additionally, Evans shot 9-for-13 from the field in the road matchup. While he has cooled off from his start to the season, Wheeling's Emmanuel Ansong, who averages 13.7 points per game, will matchup against Evans Wednesday night. At WU, Evans accounted for nearly one-third of Concord's rebounds as CU had 32 as a team.
THREES AREN'T FREE
Concord has held three of its last four opponents to below 30 percent from three-point range, but will face the MEC's best three-point shooting team in West Liberty as the Hilltoppers shoot 41.2 percent from three-point range. In fact, WLU is eighth in Division II in three-point shooting as it throws in 11.8 triples per game, ninth nationally. Earlier this season, Concord did limit West Liberty to 33 percent from beyond the arc (12-for-36). In the narrow defeat at Wheeling, the Mountain Lions stymied WU to 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from three-point range. However, the Cardinals have made the fewest three-pointers in the MEC this season, 117 (5.8 per game).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Three-pointers needed by Brisco to become the 25
th player in program history with 100 makes from distance.
40- Concord and Wheeling each had 40 points in the paint in the first meeting this season.
68- Combined free throw attempts between Concord and West Liberty earlier in the year.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Jordan Reid, who scored 27 points on Concord in January, is the ninth-leading scorer in the MEC at 17.8 points per game. Jarett Haines pours in 15.2 points per contest while Ansong is the third-leading scorer for the Cardinals. WU enters the week as one of the hottest teams in the league with three straight wins including victories over Charleston and West Virginia State. Before the three-game losing streak, Wheeling had lost four consecutive games. The Cardinals are second in both scoring defense (73.3 points) and field-goal defense (44.2 percent) in the MEC. Earlier this season, Wheeling limited CU to 42.2 percent shooting.
WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The Hilltoppers were able to shake off a mid-week loss at West Virginia State as it defeated fellow nationally-ranked team Charleston at home Sunday, 89-79. West Liberty averages 103.8 points per game, second in Division II. Will Yoakum (18.3 points) and Dalton Bolon (18.2 points) are fourth and fifth in the MEC in scoring while Pat Robinson complements the duo by tossing in 17.4 points per game, 13
th in the MEC. The loss at WVSU for West Liberty was the first defeat since falling at Charleston December 11. The Hilltoppers are outscoring teams by 346 points (1,110-764) in the first halves of games this season, but they only had a five-point halftime lead, 51-46, on Concord in January at the Carter Center.
