Concord Shoots Past West Virginia Wesleyan, 98-83

ATHENS, W.Va. – Behind 64 percent shooting, the Concord University men's basketball team ran by West Virginia Wesleyan, 98-83, Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center on Senior Day.

Before the contest, guards Trey Brisco and Martin Kelly Jr. were honored by the men's basketball program.

CU (10-16, 7-13 MEC) came out firing as three three-pointers from sophomore guard Brandon Kennedy over the first 6:40 of the game allowed the Mountain Lions to open up an 18-11 lead on Wesleyan (10-16, 9-11 MEC).

Despite the hot start, Concord fell behind the Bobcats, 24-22, with 8:53 remaining in the first half.  

After the teams went back-and-forth, and with Concord holding onto a 32-29 lead with 5:44 left in the opening 20 minutes, the Mountain Lions finished the half on a 15-7 run to go up 47-36 at halftime.

With WVWC still within range of the CU lead, 55-43, with 17:20 remaining in the contest, the Maroon and Gray proceeded to outscore Wesleyan 30-13 over the next 9:32 of the contest to go up 85-56.

But, the Bobcats weren't done with a rally attempt as they scored 16 of the next 17 points and got within 14 points, 86-72, with 3:38 left.

With three minutes to go, freshman guard Ethan Heller and Kelly Jr. squashed the WVWC comeback as the pair hit back-to-back three-pointers to restore a 94-72 lead for the Mountain Lions.

After shooting 56 percent in the first half, CU recorded a blistering 72 percent (18-for-25) in the second half, and finished the game 32-of-50.

Kennedy tallied a career-best 22 points as he finished 7-of-11 from three-point range, one triple shy of tying the single-game MEC mark this season. Brisco notched 19 points and handed out a team-best eight assists.

Junior guard/forward Malik Johnson scored 11 of his 16 points after halftime. Heller and Kelly Jr. each had 11 points in the contest. Sophomore guard Seth Brown added nine points on 4-of-4 shooting.

Led by Kennedy, the Mountain Lions made 15 three-pointers on just 25 attempts (60 percent).  Concord assisted on 22 of 32 made shots, marking the third time in four games CU has had 20 or more assists.

The Mountain Lions welcome West Virginia State to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.