Concord Stats -
West Liberty Stats -
Live Audio -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - Fresh off of a 73-68 win over Notre Dame in the Mountain East Conference Tournament's Opening Round, the Concord University men's basketball team takes on West Liberty 6:00 p.m. Friday in the MEC Quarterfinals inside WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will have live radio play-by-play coverage of each Concord game on 94.5 "Willie" FM and streaming online at www.mywillie.com throughout the MEC Tournament.
Stats: The MEC will provide live in-game statistics for the tournament.
Video: The MEC and WVMetroNews will have live streaming video of the tournament.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions enter the game with a record of 12-17 overall.
West Liberty has won seven straight games and sports a mark of 24-4 as the top overall seed in the MEC Tournament.
BUCKING THE TREND
In the opening round win over Notre Dame, the Mountain Lions overcame a few odds against them. CU shot 26.7 percent in the first half and trailed 33-24 at halftime. Previously, the Mountain Lions were 1-17 when trailing at halftime in 2019-20, and the lone win came in the opening game of the season November 8 against Pitt-Johnstown. Concord did shoot 50 percent in the second half (15-of-30) versus NDC, but still just 38.3 percent for the game. The Maroon and Gray had been 2-15 when shooting under 45 percent this season. The two previous wins came against UPJ and Davis & Elkins in mid-January. Lastly, in the months of November through January Concord had just two wins away from home, but has now won its last two games away from the Carter Center with a win at Davis & Elkins February 19 coupled with Wednesday's victory.
STEPPING UP, KNOCKING THEM IN
Senior guard
Trey Brisco knocked in all 14 free-throw attempts in the win over the Falcons. It was the second-most foul shots made in an MEC Tournament game without a miss behind the 2016 semifinal performance from NDC's Tyree Gaiter who hit 16-of-16 against Wheeling. The 14 foul shots aided Brisco's 27 points—23 in the second half. Additionally, Brisco's 14 charity stripe makes are the most since
Tommy Bolte hit 15-of-16 at West Liberty last January. In all nine MEC Tournament games Concord has played in in the history of the league, the Mountain Lions have shot at least 70 percent from the foul line including 74.1 percent (20-of-27) Wednesday. In five career MEC Tournament games, Brisco is 24-of-24 at the foul line.
TAKE IT AWAY
Despite the slow start from the field, Concord forced 12 first-half turnovers and 18 NDC turnovers for the contest. The 18 turnovers were a season-high forced by the Mountain Lions. Freshman guard
Ethan Heller, sophomore guard
Brandon Kennedy and junior forward
David Bea Mulumba each had two steals in the contest while Brisco and senior guard
Martin Kelly Jr. each had one steal. Concord had 18 points off turnovers versus NDC, and has double-digit points off turnovers in nine of its last 12 games dating back to late January at Notre Dame. For the season, CU forces just 12.4 turnovers per game while the opponent, West Liberty, causes 18.7 turnovers per game, seventh in Division II. Additionally, WLU averages 10.6 steals per game, tied for fourth in the country.
HERE TO HELP
The trend continued for Concord assisting on its made shots Wednesday. Even though the Mountain Lions had just 11 assists, they did so on 23 made field goals (47.8 percent). CU has assisted on at least 45 percent of its made field goals in the last 11 games. On Wednesday, Brisco became the seventh player in program history with 250 career assists and 100 made three-pointers by dishing out four assists. Mulumba finished one off his career best in assists by matching Brisco's four assists. Mulumba's career high came in the 11-game stretch when he had five assists versus Wheeling February 12. CU averages 13.8 assists per game while WLU averages 19.1 assists per game, fifth in Division II.
HELLO, OLD FRIEND
In the seven-year history of the MEC Tournament, Concord and West Liberty meet for the third time. The teams have split the previous two matchups with CU winning an MEC Semifinal contest in 2016, 92-90 in double overtime, over the Hilltoppers on its way to the conference title. Last season, WLU outlasted Concord, 88-84, in the semifinal round of the league postseason. The only other teams the Mountain Lions have faced multiple times in the MEC Tournament is Charleston—both times in the MEC Quarterfinals—in 2016 and 2019, Notre Dame in 2016 and 2020 and Wheeling in 2015 and 2018. Since knocking off West Liberty in the MEC Semifinals four years ago, CU has defeated the Hilltoppers just once since, a February 2017 meeting in Athens.
ONE AND DONE
Besides the run-and-gun style of the Hilltoppers, who lead Division II in points per game at 104, West Liberty does a stellar job of hitting the offensive glass. WLU is the only team in the MEC averaging at least 15 offensive rebounds per game, right at 15.0. Additionally, West Liberty rebounds 38 percent of its own misses, tops in the conference. Meanwhile, Concord does a solid job of defensive rebounding as it ranks fourth in the MEC, rebounding 73 percent of the opponents' misses. Kelly Jr. had nine rebounds versus NDC, five defensive while seven of Brisco's eight rebounds came on the defensive end. This season, West Liberty averaged 15.5 offensive rebounds per game in two contests versus CU.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4- Concord won its fourth game of the season by five or less points on Wednesday. CU had been 3-7 in games decided by five points or less this season.
13- Lead changes between CU and West Liberty in January, all in the first half.
20- Brisco had a 20-point double-double versus WLU at home this season, his only double-double of the season.
WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The Hilltoppers are led by MEC Player of the Year Dalton Bolon who averages 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. As just a junior, Bolon has already gone over 1,500 points for his career. Will Yoakum, an All-MEC First Team selection pours in 18.2 points per game while Pat Robinson, an All-MEC Second Teamer scored 18.0 points per game. Point guard Luke Dyer does a little bit of everything for WLU by scoring 5.6 points, handing out 4.2 assists and coming up with 1.9 steals per game. Dyer ranks fifth in the MEC in both assists and steals per game. During its seven-game win streak, the Hilltoppers have an average margin of victory of 26.4 points.
