ATHENS, W.Va. – An offensive rebound put back by senior guard
Trey Brisco with 24.9 seconds left in the game propelled the Concord University men's basketball team to a 74-71 win over Bluefield State Monday night in a rivalry game at the Carter Center.
The Mountain Lions (7-13) watched their double-digit lead throughout the first 15 minutes of the second half slowly shrink away. A layup from junior forward
Liam Evans pushed CU's advantage to 15 points, 70-55, with 5:49 left in the game.
However, Bluefield State (9-11) scored 16 unanswered points over the next 3:38 of the game to go up 71-70 with 2:11 left. Concord missed its next two shots as it tried to grab the lead back. After a shot clock violation on the Blues with 54 seconds remaining, junior guard/forward
Malik Johnson couldn't connect on the following CU possession, but Brisco came flying in from the right baseline and muscled back up a layup to push Concord ahead 72-71.
On the ensuing BSC trip, senior guard
Martin Kelly Jr. stole a pass away and found Johnson who calmly sank two free throws with 2.3 seconds left to give Concord a three-point advantage. Off the in-bounds, Bluefield State got a shot from about 30 feet away, but the attempt hit off the front iron.
The Mountain Lions led by at least 10 points from the 2:38 mark of the first half until the 4:11 mark of the second half. Included was a half-court buzzer beater from Kelly Jr. at the end of the first half that pushed CU up 43-29 at halftime.
Evans finished two points shy of his career high as he posted 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Over his last two games, the Melbourne, Australia native is 13-for-15 from the field.
Freshman guard
Ethan Heller dropped in 14 points. Kelly Jr. provided 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench while Johnson tallied 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Brisco just missed double figures with nine points, five rebounds and three steals. His only offensive rebound was the difference in the game.
Concord shot 48.2 percent (27-for-56) from the field while holding the Blues to 42.9 percent (27-for-65).
CU travels to Frostburg State 7:30 p.m. Thursday as it resumes Mountain East Conference play.
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